A fan who shall remain nameless wrote to me with this problem, quote,

In negotiations today, a union rep provided me with handouts of proposals she had labeled mute.

Help!

Unquote.

Presumably, the union rep meant moot, moot, not mute, moot.

Moot is an adjective that generally means something that isn't relevant anymore.

One of my favorite episodes of the sitcom Friends is when Joey says a point is moot.

Right, right, it's the big question is, does he like you?

Right, because if he doesn't like you, this is all a moot point.

Huh.

A moot point?

Yeah, it's like a cow's opinion.

It just doesn't matter.

It's moot.

I never get tired of that.

It's not very common to hear people think something that doesn't matter is moot,

but it is quite common for people to think the word is mute.

The correct word when you're talking about something that doesn't matter anymore

is moot, moot, especially in America.

But you may be surprised to learn that it wasn't always so straightforward,

and moot can carry a different meaning in other parts of the world.

To find the origin of the word moot, we have to go all the way back to the 12th century

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