Spoonful #34: PEEK, PEAK, and PIQUE

EEK! ​​PEEK ​and ​PEAK can be scarily difficult to keep straight, while PIQUE is so unique, it can be frightening all on its own. So let's address this fearsome trio one at a time!  

It helps to remember that EEK lurks inside PEEK. Because if you PEEK at someone who is getting dressed, that person is likely to yell EEK! Then hit you in the head for being a peeping Tom or Tilly.  

PEAK refers to the highest point of a mountain. If you climbed to the PEAK of Mount Everest, you'd be too tired to yell anything at all. 

PEAK also means "pinnacle," "top," or "limit" as with an athlete attaining a PEAK fitness level, a person reaching the PEAK of his/her career, or a car in PEAK condition. I'm sure you can come up with other ways to use PEAK, as it's quite versatile. 

PIQUE is pronounced the same way as the other two, hence its inclusion in the list. As a noun, PIQUE means irritation or vexation. As a verb, it can mean stimulate, awaken, or provoke, or it can also mean irritate, annoy, or vex.

This homophone trio can be summed up like this:
John was PIQUED that he kept mixing up PEAK and PEEK. Now he's unvexed and standing on the PEAK of Holt Hill playing PEEK-A-BOO with his baby sister. 

Happy Halloween!!

Sincerely,
Laura Fineberg Cooper
A Spoonful of Grammar

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