Hi, I'm Minyeon Fagrity, grammar girl, and this week we're going to talk about the word

smitten and it's a violent origin.

I have an excerpt about Emily Dickinson and Dash's from Mary Norris' new book,

Between You and Me, Confessions of a Comic Queen.

And finally, I have a tidbit about why we say something is spikin' span.

What does that mean?

Now, have you been smitten? And if so, is that good or bad?

Tara L. from New Jersey asked, are you smitten by someone or smitten with someone?

Well, both smitten by and smitten with appear to be acceptable.

Smitten with may be slightly more common but not by much.

If you feel the need to make a distinction, being smitten by someone

could imply some sort of action on the part of the adored person.

And being smitten with someone could imply that here she is unaware of your effect

and has done nothing to encourage it. But those aren't hard and fast rules.

Although I've heard the word smitten being used to describe only affection,

it's actually a form of the verb to smite, which means to hit or strike.

And the adjective smitten can also describe something or someone who has been struck.

This violent meaning was used long before it was used to describe love,

which gives me a whole new perspective on the saying, all's fair and love and war.

For example, you could say, she teetered back and forth like a smitten sapling,

or his army has smitten multitudes.

And that was your quick and dirty tip. You can say you were smitten by someone or smitten with someone. They're both okay.

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