Duck v. Duct
Well, it’s a little more complicated. More here.
Interesting. I will certainly take Safire’s word for it, thanks. This reminds me of the time, junior year of college, when I finally learned that even though the school I went to from second through twelfth grades had been serving us fried chicken patties once every two weeks or so and calling them chicken fried steak, that chicken fried steak is actually steak and not chicken.