You say potato, I say potahtoe...

The Guest Blogger strikes again...

I was reviewing some Emergency Preparedness plans and made a note that material was misspelled as materiel. I know I find it difficult to remember when to use an “e” and when it’s an “a.”

The document writer let me know that materiel is the correct spelling, in the Strategic National Stockpile and technical Emergency Preparedness field. What? So I looked it up. Materiel means all the apparatus, equipment, parts and supplies (as distinguished from the personnel), required in an operation, organization, or undertaking The term is used to refer to a military force but can be applied to other organizations. On the other hand, one of the definitions for material, is the tools or apparatus for the performance of a given task. Both words derive from the same French word of matériel.

So it looks like materiel is a more precise term – emphasizing required equipment and excluding personnel.

And remember, people are material.