Answers - what is the difference between repel and rapelle
One of our commonly confused words today is actually doubly confusing... With a little help from our friends in The Sentinel.
Repel basically means to ward off, fight off, resist, or keep away, and can be used in several ways.
"How do you keep from being bitten?" Blair asked, slapping the mosquito that had landed on his arm. "The repellent I'm using doesn't work! But they don't seem to be bothering you."
The tribal shaman smiled. He led Blair to a clump of plants. "These leaves, boiled and pulped, then rubbed on your skin, repel all biting insects most efficiently."
"Nobody likes me," the student whined.
Blair looked at him. "You're rude to everyone," he said. "It repels them. Try being nicer."
"What's your book about?" Blair asked.
"The battle of Marathon. How the Greeks repelled the Persian invasion," Jim replied.
On the other hand, rapelle (also spelled 'rappelle') has only one meaning - it's the French word for remembers, and is unlikely to be used by a native English speaker.
However, some writers seem to use it when they actually mean 'rappel', the French word for a controlled descent of a vertical surface, e.g. a cliff or wall, by sliding down a rope. The German term for this is abseil, which is the word favoured by UK climbers.
It had been a beautiful day, but the weather was rapidly deteriorating, and it was quickly becoming clear that rain was imminent. Both men knew it would be wise to turn back. Blair looked despairingly at the long curving path they had followed to get to their present position high above the valley below.
"We're going to get very wet," he muttered.
"We can save over an hour if we rappel down this cliff," Jim replied, shrugging his backpack off and pulling a rope from it.
If your characters are sliding down a rope, the word you want is rappel (or abseil); if they're not sliding down a rope, it has to be 'repel' - remember, repel means to resist something.
Sources
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/repel
http://www.eudict.com/?lang=freeng&word=rapelle
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rappelle
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/rappelled
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/abseil
Repel basically means to ward off, fight off, resist, or keep away, and can be used in several ways.
"How do you keep from being bitten?" Blair asked, slapping the mosquito that had landed on his arm. "The repellent I'm using doesn't work! But they don't seem to be bothering you."
The tribal shaman smiled. He led Blair to a clump of plants. "These leaves, boiled and pulped, then rubbed on your skin, repel all biting insects most efficiently."
"Nobody likes me," the student whined.
Blair looked at him. "You're rude to everyone," he said. "It repels them. Try being nicer."
"What's your book about?" Blair asked.
"The battle of Marathon. How the Greeks repelled the Persian invasion," Jim replied.
On the other hand, rapelle (also spelled 'rappelle') has only one meaning - it's the French word for remembers, and is unlikely to be used by a native English speaker.
However, some writers seem to use it when they actually mean 'rappel', the French word for a controlled descent of a vertical surface, e.g. a cliff or wall, by sliding down a rope. The German term for this is abseil, which is the word favoured by UK climbers.
It had been a beautiful day, but the weather was rapidly deteriorating, and it was quickly becoming clear that rain was imminent. Both men knew it would be wise to turn back. Blair looked despairingly at the long curving path they had followed to get to their present position high above the valley below.
"We're going to get very wet," he muttered.
"We can save over an hour if we rappel down this cliff," Jim replied, shrugging his backpack off and pulling a rope from it.
If your characters are sliding down a rope, the word you want is rappel (or abseil); if they're not sliding down a rope, it has to be 'repel' - remember, repel means to resist something.
Sources
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/repel
http://www.eudict.com/?lang=freeng&word=rapelle
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rappelle
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/rappelled
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/abseil