The rites stuff

Add comment December 4th, 2008

A reference to stories about “rights of passage” used the wrong “rights.” It should have been “rites.”

A “rite” is a ritual (note the similarity) or ceremony, as in the marriage rite and the Scottish rite of Freemasonry. “Rite of passage,” in addition to being a specific, often religious term, also can mean any “event, achievement, etc., in a person’s life regarded as having great significance.”

Another well-known “rite” is the Igor Stravinsky composition “The Rite of Spring.” Part of the score was popularized when it was included in “Fantasia,” the 1940 Disney film combining classical music and animation. The “Rite of Spring” sequence is the one with all the volcanoes and dinosaurs.

There’s also the homonym “write,” as in “I’ll write you a letter.”

“Right” is about what is correct, lawful, appropriate and so on. It’s the right choice for many things, but not for “rite of passage.”