On a call, talking to someone on the internet, or talking to some friend or family in real life, you often get to hear these three words:
Bear with me!
Now:
Focus on this sound. Say it and listen to yourself or listen to it above!
This may mean:
- Bear – The ferocious big beast.
- Beer – One of the most widely devoured beverage.
- Bare – Something or someone or some body part without any cloth or covering.
The question of ‘which one’ is rather important because confusing one with another can be fatal.
I mean think of someone saying to you “Bear with me!”, what could be the repercussion if you confuse it with ‘bare’.
No! ‘Bear with me’ does not mean that someone is asking you to get ‘bare’ with them.
It means stay with me, be patient with me, wait for me while I’m busy with some important task, and basically anything that goes for a situation in which you want to talk to some or go with them or do something for them, but not immediately – you need some time for something else that needs immediate attention.
Have a sample sentence? Check it with this punctuation checker.
Difference between Bare and Bear
I bet that by now you know the difference between bear and bare.
Bear means to endure something.
Bare means to uncover something.
Here’s a funny sentence about your confusion, but it explains all sorts of “bears” perfectly.
“A patient bear will always bear with you, but an impatient bear will devour you.”
Remember:
The easiest way to avoid confusion is to remember that in writing ‘bear’ (verb) means to endure and ‘bare’ means to uncover something.
And when you hear someone saying this:
Would you please bear with me?
It is 100% the first one. Why? Because ‘with’ is only and specifically used with endurance ‘bear’. For the other one, you do not use a proposition – least of all ‘with’.
For uncovering bare, you just say:
“Would you please bare the statue covered with a white sheet?”
The most important thing to remember is the ‘with’ point. No one will use ‘with’ after ‘bare’ (uncover).
You know what is pun. Well, if you do not know let me tell you.
Pun is a joke that is deliberately made to have more than one possible meaning. It is like a wordplay.
So:
Some people, just with an intention of kidding someone, would say, “Bare with me!”
The intention, in that case, is totally pun. Here are some pun-intended sentences to give you a better sense of clarity about many bears and bares.
- Bear with me, ate my wife and ran away. (Beast)
- I am going in bed, please bare with me. (Uncover – pun about sexual relationship)
- Last night I was walking with a fat girl when my friend waved hand to me. All I said was, “Bear with me.”
See:
Weren’t these examples funny?
Okay:
Now that we are pretty much clear about the origin of all sorts of bears and bares, let us be clear on how to use the bear of the phrase ‘bear with me’.
- If you are a speaker and your audience is getting bored, you say ‘bear with me for a minute or so’.
- If you are a speaker and you are asked a question, but for now, you only want to talk about the topic, you will say the same: bear with me.
- If you host a show – including internet, TV or radio etc. and you are having difficulties of any sort, you will tell the audience – bear with me.
- When you want people or your companion(s) to wait for something, you always say, “Bear with me!”
- When you expect someone to show patience instead of anger or haste or anxiety etc., you say – bear with me.
So:
Ladies and gentlemen these are different examples of how you can use bear or bare. The most important lesson for you is to understand that bear and bare may sound the same, but they are NOT interchangeable.
Also:
It is very important to notice that using ‘bare’ in writing, where you are supposed to write ‘bear’ my cause you great embarrassment.
You need to be careful with how you use your words, and remember that bear with ‘with’ is the only bear that you use to ask someone to be patient.
