Commonly confused words

Manor/ manner

The noun manor refers to a large house in the country, usually surrounded by extensive land. Manor houses in Europe tend to be found in rural areas. The word’s origins have something to do with a place to live in, or where people remain. Since a manor is a grand house on a large scale, sometimes hotels use the word manor to make customers think of a luxurious place to stay. The noun manner means the way things are done. Manner may refer to the means or style with which something happens. It may also be used to mention a type of art or writing, for example to write that a painting was done in the manner of Michelangelo, means the artist’s approach or method was in some ways similar to Michelangelo’s. Manner can also be used to refer to the way people behave towards one another. The manner, or often in the plural, manners of people can make a good or bad impression, depending on how polite and well-behaved they are. As we see, the word manner has many meanings, while the word manor has only one meaning. That should make it easier to remember that if a manor is mentioned, we must be discussing houses. One sentence we might invent to better recall this distinction is as follows:

Any man or woman would like to live in a manor.

If we think of the words man or in the sentence about living in a manor, this should clear up any confusion we might have about how to spell the word. If the context is not about housing, then the alternative spelling of manner is clearly the one that is needed. Sometimes in the UK, the word manor has an ironic meaning. Originally intended to refer to luxury housing, it can also sometimes be used about poor housing, as in Ill Manors, a hip hop protest song by English singer-songwriter Plan B, released in 2012. In other places, slum buildings may be called manors to try to add some elegance to them, but this is not the real, original meaning of the word. Football fans may have noticed that some clubs, especially those in the UK, have the word Manor as part of their names. These include Southend Manor Football Club, Eton Manor Football Club, The Manor Club JFC, and others. As usual, to include the word manor in the name of a team means to refer to a grand and high-level way of residential life that has historical associations with the countryside, where a club may be located. Here are some usage examples:

• At about the same time, American historians were writing the first analyses of slave-centred Southern society. Slavery was an economically inefficient institution, they argued. For slave owners, profit was a secondary concern, but being lord of the manor was its own reward.
• In Chiang Mai, Akyra Manor Chiang Mai on Nimmanhaemin Road is under construction. The seven-floor hotel will offers 29 suites and residence rooms and is scheduled to open in the third quarter of this year.
• Manor Group, a design and architecture enterprise based in Singapore, will open a hotel in Chiang Mai in October, aiming to cash in on the growth of tourism there and to pave the way for further investment in Thailand and neighbouring countries.
• Why Garsington Manor was Britain’s most scandalous wartime retreat. One thing is sure: Garsington Manor never lacked either attention or comment during the 14 crowded years it was the home of Lady Ottoline Morrell and her husband, Philip. The stories thickened, tangling the old Oxfordshire manor house and its hospitable owners within a web of scandal and mockery. Garsington – the beautiful ruined manor house into which the couple moved during the summer of 1915 – provided her with a means of response to that moral issue. Many ordinary family connections with the manor house at the time of the First World War live on in the village and some primary source recollections have been collected by the local history group.
• Whatley Manor, Wiltshire. Pitching itself as a more elite country house hotel (rooms rates start at £325 and go up to £1,250 a night!) Whatley, due to open in July, will espouse many of the virtues of the cool country brigade while retaining a more traditional and formal atmosphere. As the man behind the manor, Christian Landolt, explains: ‘We’re definitely not another Babington House. This is not a place to see and be seen, it is a retreat to escape to, a place where international guests can avoid the media glare.’ Nestling in 12 acres of beautiful gardens, the 15 rooms and eight suites have been designed for ultimate comfort and relaxation.
• I have heard all manner of compliments paid to the actress Patchrapa Chaichua by all manner of people.
• Pedestrians who play Pokemon Go in an “inappropriate manner” will face a fine.
• A US Air Force reconnaissance plane was intercepted by a Russian SU-27 jet in an unsafe and unprofessional manner while flying a routine route in international airspace over the Baltic Sea, the Pentagon said Saturday.
• Tourists from China spend their income around the world, but can also raise eyebrows over their lack of social etiquette. Complaints are often heard, regarding their sometimes not-so-pleasant public manners.
• The current tax-collection system must be changed, the regime believes, so as to expand the tax base in a more equitable manner and to narrow the income gap between the rich and the poor, such as through inheritance and land/building taxes.
• Surachet Kongcheep, associate director of research at Colliers International Thailand, said the concept of co-working space is finding favour among freelancers, start-ups and SME businesses that may not be ready or confident enough to commit to a lease in an office building. These spaces provide them with a more formal space, allowing a more professional presentation of their business in a convenient manner.
• Nobuko Akashi, president of the Japan Manner and Protocol Association, a nonprofit organization that recommends other measures than signboards, said, “Steady efforts are essential, such as thoroughly notifying visitors about etiquette and rules before they come to Japan via information websites for overseas.”
• Thais learn about marayat – good manners – at an early age. We forget it later, but that’s another story. The guide to Japanese customs is a handy extrapolation of that and no one seems to be taking offence at what might otherwise be perceived as poor hospitality among the Japanese.
• A music video promoting tourism in Thailand has run into a storm of criticism over the appropriateness of using evil Thai ogres in a joyful manner. Scenes such as ogres from the Ramayana cooking coconut cream cakes, ogres biking, ogres driving go-carts and ogres taking selfies were declared inappropriate.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)