01.04.09

Carat vs. Karat vs. Carrot

Posted in The Word at 5:48 pm by Administrator

The confusion over the first two of these words is perfectly understandable, but I’m really disturbed by the number of “12-carrot diamond rings” I’ve read about over the years. So, let’s review.

Carat is a unit of weight for gemstones. A 3-carat diamond.

Karat refers to the purity of gold. A ring of 24-karat (24K) gold.

And a carrot is a delicious root vegetable, usually orange, loved by rabbits.

1 Comment »

  1. Ken McFarland said,

    January 9, 2009 at 1:35 am

    You forgot another one: caret….the little “insert here” symbol that proofreaders… and sometimes, editors, use.

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