# Grammar questions on the phrase "to be smitten"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-questions-on-the-phrase-to-be-smitten/197677
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 26, 2003, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-questions-on-the-phrase-to-be-smitten/197677 "2003-08-26T03:33:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@HerMajestyLorna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HerMajestyLorna)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2003, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-questions-on-the-phrase-to-be-smitten/197677/1 "2003-08-26T03:33:34Z")
Take the sentence “I am smitten with you.”
Now, can one take the word “smitten” and use it in other ways?
For example, “It seems I am smitting you as we speak,” to describe the process of wooing another person. This sounds terribly wrong, but is this possible, or should it be used in another way?
I am suspecting this is one of those words that can only be used in one form…
If one can _be_ smitten, can one _smit_? Or _smite_?
But [smite](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=smite), of course means something completely different.
Are the words related? Please help me figure this out, as it is causing me great distress.
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### Author:  [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-questions-on-the-phrase-to-be-smitten/197677/2 "2003-08-26T03:46:04Z")
Oh, there are some others. Merriam-Webster’s _Collegiate_ gives “children _smitten_ with the fear of hell.” You can also be _smitten_ by appendicitis.
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### Author:  [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-questions-on-the-phrase-to-be-smitten/197677/3 "2003-08-26T03:47:38Z")
“to be smitten” in the sense of falling in love is probably a shortened form of a phrase like “to be smitten down by love” or something. It’s just that they leave off the “by love” part. It does, in fact, come from the word “smite.”
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### Author:  [@HerMajestyLorna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HerMajestyLorna)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2003, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-questions-on-the-phrase-to-be-smitten/197677/4 "2003-08-26T03:50:43Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by David Simmons \*
> \*\*Oh, there are some others. Merriam-Webster’s _Collegiate_ gives “children _smitten_ with the fear of hell.” You can also be _smitten_ by appendicitis. \*\*
So one could say, “I am going to smite you with the fear of hell!” or the such?
And, similarly (but more uncommonly), “I shall smite you with my love!” If, of course, one was intent on using “to smite” and “love” or the like in the same sentence…
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### Author:  [@Agback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agback)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-questions-on-the-phrase-to-be-smitten/197677/5 "2003-08-26T03:59:49Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by HerMajestyLorna \*
> **But [smite](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=smite), of course means something completely different.**
Nope. It means the same thing, it is just that you are using it in a figure of speech so old that people are beginning to forget what the metaphor is: love so sudden and so overwhelming that it is like a knock-down blow.
Regards,
Agback
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### Author:  [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2003, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-questions-on-the-phrase-to-be-smitten/197677/6 "2003-08-26T14:40:59Z")
Being smitten by someone is similar to being “love-struck”, another smack-related metaphor.
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### Author:  [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-questions-on-the-phrase-to-be-smitten/197677/7 "2003-08-26T15:06:27Z")
_ **smite - smote - smitten - smiting** _
_ **hit - hit - hit - hitting** _
Gee, I wonder why the previous has fallen behind in popularity with English speakers while the latter enjoys continued common use?
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### Author:  [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2003, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-questions-on-the-phrase-to-be-smitten/197677/8 "2003-08-26T15:13:57Z")
From the O.E.D.
smitten (\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_), ppl. a.
[See smite v. A. 3 \_.]
That has been smit; beaten, struck. Also absol. with down.
Take a look at the variouse forms in the dictionary to find all the usages. The O.E.D. gives may examples of usage as well as definitions.
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### Author:  [@spogga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spogga)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-questions-on-the-phrase-to-be-smitten/197677/9 "2003-08-26T15:17:39Z")
Smiting? are you sure??
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### Author:  [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-questions-on-the-phrase-to-be-smitten/197677/10 "2003-08-26T15:23:16Z")
Sheesh!
Don’t some of you people have dictionaries?
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-questions-on-the-phrase-to-be-smitten/197677/11 "2003-08-26T17:11:30Z")
‘Smitten’ has an advantage over "Lovestruck’ in that it rhymes with ‘kitten’, while "lovestruck’ merely suggests ‘dump truck.’ This makes it a much more useful choice for writing cloying verse.
Using both in combination can sometimes go terribly wrong, as in my early effort _Litter Under The Wheels_, the only redeeming thing about which might be said being that it was written in headless tetrameter, which I still fancy was a bit clever.
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### Author:  [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2003, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-questions-on-the-phrase-to-be-smitten/197677/12 "2003-08-26T21:49:22Z")
Love hurts.