Certain sets of words in the English language tend to confuse writers. I have found the following to be among them:
CAVALRY / CALVARY
These words may be more often misused by speakers than by writers, but when I heard a history professor today say calvary when he obviously meant cavalry, I thought some clarification might be useful for us writers as well.
Traditionally, troops on horseback made up the cavalry (think Adventures of Rin Tin Tin here if you’re old enough to remember that 1950s TV show). The U.S. Army still has a cavalry division, but now it’s made up of soldiers in motorized vehicles rather than on horseback.
On the other hand, according to the New Testament of the Holy Bible, Calvary is the name of the hill on which Jesus Christ was crucified.
INCORRECT: Hooray! Here comes the calvary to save the day!
CORRECT: Hooray! Here comes the cavalry to save the day!
INCORRECT: Christ died on the cross of Cavalry.
CORRECT: Christ died on the cross of Calvary.
To help you remember which one of these words to use for soldiers on horseback, think of those soldiers as being valiant. The word cavalry contains the letters v-a-l, the first three letters of the word valiant, in the same order. The word Calvary does not.
© 2017 Ann Henry, all rights reserved.