Make Your Editor Cry: Broach vs. Brooch
To broach a subject is to bring it up. A brooch is a decorative pin. These words both come from a word root meaning “something pointy,” but the spelling brooch branched off as a word for the piece of jewelry.
Broach means to bring up or introduce a sensitive issue. If your best friend has severe phobia of spiders (arachnophobia), you might want to delicately broach the topic of your new pet tarantula. The word broach comes from a Middle English word for “pointed tool.” These days, it’s usually used as a verb meaning “to gently mention something” or “to bring up a difficult subject.”
Examples:
He’d dreaded broaching the topic with his teammates, but they were supportive.
Despite the hour, he called a meeting to openly broach the subject.
That fancy pin your Grandma used to wear on her blouse or lapel? It’s a brooch, held in place by a sharp needle clasp. Change that “a” to an “o” and you have brooch. This word is usually pronounced the same way as broach, but it an also rhyme with “pooch.” A brooch is a decorated pin, like a silver elephant brooch with ruby eyes.
Examples:
She wore a lace collar fastened with a cameo brooch.
Her ensemble included a blue ball gown with matching gloves and her jewelry included a large golden dove brooch.
Gregg Bridgeman is the Editor-in-Chief at Olivia Kimbrell Press. He is husband to best-selling Christian author Hallee Bridgeman and parent to three. He continues to proudly serve in the US Armed Forces and has done so in either an active or reserve capacity for more than twenty years as an airborne and air assault qualified paratrooper, earning a Bronze Star for his service. Most importantly, he was ordained in October of 2001 after surrendering his life to Christ decades earlier.