English enthusiasts -- I need your help.

[sweet angel]

I always thought the saying was "comedy of errors". A friend just corrected me and says it's "comity of errors".

I've never heard or seen that word before. Any enlightenment?

 

[Christine]

Your friend is wrong.

 

[Briarmom]

It's comedy. I don't know what she is thinking.

 

[Marseeya]

As far as I know, there is no such word as "comity." Comedy of Errors is a Shakespeare play.

You were right!

 

[hamlet35_2000]

Don't know if this helps, but Shakespeare's play was called "The Comedy of Errors" not "The Comity of Errors". Comity is not even an old English spelling of comedy. Hope that helps.

 

[hamlet35_2000]

Wow people come and go so quickly around here

 

[helenabear]

com·i·ty ([font=verdana, sans-serif] P [/font]) Pronunciation Key (k

m

-t

)
n. pl. com·i·ties

1. An atmosphere of social harmony.
2. See comity of nations.
3. The principle by which the courts of one jurisdiction may accede or give effect to the laws or decisions of another.

[Latin c

mit

s, from c

mis, friendly. See smei- in Indo-European Roots.]


That would make no sense to have it a comity of errors... none at all.

And from the same site (dictionary.com)

com·e·dy ([font=verdana, sans-serif] P [/font]) Pronunciation Key (k

m

-d

)
n. pl. com·e·dies

1. 1. <LI type=a>A dramatic work that is light and often humorous or satirical in tone and that usually contains a happy resolution of the thematic conflict.
   2. The genre made up of such works.
2. A literary or cinematic work of a comic nature or that uses the themes or methods of comedy.
3. Popular entertainment composed of jokes, satire, or humorous performance.
4. The art of composing or performing comedy.
5. A humorous element of life or literature: the human comedy of political campaigns.
6. A humorous occurrence.

Idiom:

comedy of errors
A ludicrous event or sequence of events: The candidate's campaign turned out to be a political comedy of errors.
[Middle English comedie, from Medieval Latin c

m

dia, from Latin c

moedia, from Greek k

m

idia, from k

m

idos, comic actor : k

mos, revel + aoidos, singer (from aeidein, to sing. See wed-2 in Indo-European Roots).]
[Download Now or Buy the Book]
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.



comedy of errors A complex or humorous series of events, as in Mary and John went to the Smiths', while the Smiths went to the Parkers', and the Parkers wondered why no one answered the door at John and Mary's

a true comedy of errors. The term borrows the title of Shakespeare's play, The Comedy of Errors, about two sets of twin brothers, master and slave, who are separated in infancy, and the mix-ups occurring when they arrive in the same place many years later. [c. 1600]

 

[CheshireVal]

It's comedy. (I looked it up and comity is a legal term).

 

[Aimee K]

Sometimes its fun to have a good laugh at your friends expense

 

[MrVisible]

Comity is defined as a mutually beneficial association of nations, or as politeness or courtesy.

I can see where your friend might think that the expression might refer to an association of errors, but it probably dates back to the Shakespeare play's title and beyond.

In terms of usage, the term "comedy of errors" comes up with 1,660,000 Google hits, while "comity of errors" gets 153, most of the political treatises doing a play on words.

You are so right, it's not funny.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Comity? Now that is funny!

 

[sweet angel]

Interesting...more background that I just found out....

She got "comity of errors" from the senior partner of a law firm she works for. Perhaps he's using it in a legal sense, or perhaps he's been mistaken all these years!

In any event, it's nice to know that I'm not wrong!

 

[phamton]

Interesting...more background that I just found out....

She got "comity of errors" from the senior partner of a law firm she works for. Perhaps he's using it in a legal sense, or perhaps he's been mistaken all these years!

Maybe he's using it as a joke. My dad used to joke about his devious septum before he had surgery on his deviated septum. He knew the correct word but used the other as a joke.

In one school I was at, the principal often referred to corporal punishment as capital punishment. It was just an inside joke. Another friend was a city planner and some times jokingly referred to a small town as a "one ***** town" rather than a "one horse town" (not in public of course).

edited to add: the word that was ***** was a word that starts with wh.

 

[sweet angel]

No, no...not a joke.

I used to work for a different attorney who would use the ellipsis (...) in professional letters ALL THE TIME. Granted, I use them here, but it's a casual thing. I would never dream of using them in a professional setting.

 

[pogo791]

Sweet angel,

There's a simple explanation, but it requires a leap of faith: even lawyers have a sense of humor. (That is, if you regard puns as humorous.)

As has been pointed out by Hamlet35-2000 and others, Shakespeare's play is (and has always been) called "The Comedy of Errors." Helenabear refers to The American Heritage Dictionary, which notes that a "comedy of errors" is now idiom for a funny sequence of events, usually when the different people involved are working under false assumptions.

The term "comity of errors" is simply a pun on this idiom. (You may groan now.)

Any explanation of a pun takes away the fun. But since I'm a lawyer (who absolutely loves wordplay) - and since you ask - I'll give you the background. And if you don't like long explanations, stop reading now, and just take my word for it - "comity of errors" is not a recognized term, it is simply a pun that is used (rarely) by lawyers when they see the opportunity. (I'll ignore the possibility that someone honestly thinks that Shakepeare's play is called "The Comity of Errors" - after all, even lawyers do make mistakes.)

"Comity of errors" has been used in the title of at least two legal articles that I know of, and a google search found three articles in which it has been used at the very end of the article, as a punch-line. All these articles deal with the legal concept of comity. For lawyers, "comity" is simply a five-dollar word for courtesy and respect. One common legal meaning of comity is the willingness to grant a privilege, not as a matter of right, but out of deference and good will. A special sense of the word - and one that is used in most of these five articles - is that the courts of one jurisdiction should give effect to the laws and judicial decisions of another jurisdiction, not as a matter of obligation but out of deference and mutual respect.

Not to go into the legal details (not only are these boring, but each of the five articles dealt with different sets of circumstances), the authors tend to argue that, in the special case that they are writing about, the court was wrong in basing its decision on comity. Comity was used in error - hence the punch-line, a "comity of errors."

OK, class dismissed.

 

[Tamarap]

Hmmm, very interesting. I do so enjoy a good play on words. I use the term "comedy of errors" all the time. My life sometimes seems like a comedy of errors

 

[sweet angel]

Sweet angel,

There's a simple explanation, but it requires a leap of faith: even lawyers have a sense of humor. (That is, if you regard puns as humorous.)

As has been pointed out by Hamlet35-2000 and others, Shakespeare's play is (and has always been) called "The Comedy of Errors." Helenabear refers to The American Heritage Dictionary, which notes that a "comedy of errors" is now idiom for a funny sequence of events, usually when the different people involved are working under false assumptions.

The term "comity of errors" is simply a pun on this idiom. (You may groan now.)

Any explanation of a pun takes away the fun. But since I'm a lawyer (who absolutely loves wordplay) - and since you ask - I'll give you the background. And if you don't like long explanations, stop reading now, and just take my word for it - "comity of errors" is not a recognized term, it is simply a pun that is used (rarely) by lawyers when they see the opportunity. (I'll ignore the possibility that someone honestly thinks that Shakepeare's play is called "The Comity of Errors" - after all, even lawyers do make mistakes.)

"Comity of errors" has been used in the title of at least two legal articles that I know of, and a google search found three articles in which it has been used at the very end of the article, as a punch-line. All these articles deal with the legal concept of comity. For lawyers, "comity" is simply a five-dollar word for courtesy and respect. One common legal meaning of comity is the willingness to grant a privilege, not as a matter of right, but out of deference and good will. A special sense of the word - and one that is used in most of these five articles - is that the courts of one jurisdiction should give effect to the laws and judicial decisions of another jurisdiction, not as a matter of obligation but out of deference and mutual respect.

Not to go into the legal details (not only are these boring, but each of the five articles dealt with different sets of circumstances), the authors tend to argue that, in the special case that they are writing about, the court was wrong in basing its decision on comity. Comity was used in error - hence the punch-line, a "comity of errors."

OK, class dismissed.

Thank you. That was very well written. I just sent your response to my friend.