Clever-land, Cleave-land

A coworker at one of my company's Asian offices made a highly complimentary mistake in their English: Cleveland became Cleverland. What would Moses Cleaveland think?

To cleave:
  1. to adhere closely; stick; cling (usually fol. by to).
  2. to remain faithful (usually fol. by to): to cleave to one's principles in spite of persecution.
  3. to split or divide by or as if by a cutting blow, esp. along a natural line of division, as the grain of wood.
  4. to make by or as if by cutting: to cleave a path through the wilderness.
  5. to penetrate or pass through (air, water, etc.): The bow of the boat cleaved the water cleanly.
  6. to cut off; sever: to cleave a branch from a tree.
Clever:
  1. mentally bright; having sharp or quick intelligence; able.
  2. superficially skillful, witty, or original in character or construction; facile: It was an amusing, clever play, but of no lasting value.
  3. showing inventiveness or originality; ingenious: His clever device was the first to solve the problem.
  4. adroit with the hands or body; dexterous or nimble.
Either is fine, actually.

1 comment: