Is It “Gauging Interest” or “Gaging Interest”? (Meaning & Examples)

We may have heard of or come across the phrase “gauging interest” in writing. However, like many words in the English language, we often see “gauging” spelled as “gaging”. This begs the question – is it correct to write “gauging interest” or “gaging interest”?

Is It “Gauging Interest” or “Gaging Interest”?

Commonly, we will see the phrase written as “gauging interest”. This is because, more often than not, this is the accepted spelling of the phrase. However, there are some conflicting opinions, which makes the use of the phrase “gaging interest” also sometimes utilized, though not as frequently.

As we can see, Cambridge Dictionary defines “gauge” as the calculation or measurement of an amount, or to make a judgment about something, usually people’s feelings or interest. Therefore, the accepted form of the phrase is “gauging interest”.

Similarly, Collins Dictionary also defines the term as to “gauge interest” as opposed to “gage interest” – also referring to a “gauge” as an adequate measurement device.

However, in contrast, Merriam Webster points out that the term “gage” is merely a variant of the term “gauge” and is very commonly used in the United States – if not fully preferred. Because of this, the spelling “gaging interest” is thought of as acceptable and common in the United States.

It is important to note that many dictionaries and professional English language users, consider the term “gage” to be archaic or obsolete. This causes its users to be very minimalized in comparison to “gauging interest”.

Is “Gauging Interest” And “Gaging Interest” Used Differently In The UK And The US?

There are some usage discrepancies over the spelling of this particular phrase in the UK and the US. In the UK, you will always see this phrase written as “gauging interest” because this is the proper English spelling of the phrase – the US is slightly different.

Commonly, the spelling of the phrase is consistent in the US with how it is in the UK. However, throughout the 1900s in the United States, there was an increasing movement to drop the vowel “u” in many English words. We can see examples of this with “color” and “colour”, “humor” and “humour”, or “honor” and “honour”.

Consistently, with the term “gauge”, many Americans will choose to write the word as “gage” – ignoring the fact that the term “gage” once had a different meaning. This is seen by many Americans as a way of simplifying the spelling of words and cutting out any unnecessary letters.

Regardless of the fact that some Americans will do this, the most common or popular spelling is still “gauging interest”, especially in other predominantly speaking English countries like Ireland, Canada, Britain, etc.

What Does “Gauging Interest” Mean?

The phrase “gauging interest” means to determine, judge or estimate the amount of interest that we or someone else has in a specific subject, the topic of conversation, etc. Because there is no tool to measure the “gauge of interest”, this is generally done as a presumption.

A “gauge” would normally be considered a tool to accurately measure something, like a thermometer with the human body or outdoor and indoor temperatures. However, in terms of someone’s “interest”, we will often use their body language, their participation in a discussion, etc., to act as the “gauge” of their level of “interest”.

Examples Of How To Use “Gauging Interest” And “Gaging Interest” In A Sentence

We will now go over the following examples that highlight how we can use this particular phrase appropriately in conversation or a written sentence:

• Incorrect: We posted flyers in the neighbourhood in an attempt at gaging the interests of the community in our yard sale.
• Correct: We posted flyers in the neighbourhood in an attempt at gauging the interests of the community in our yard sale.

• Incorrect: The teacher was excellent at gaging the interests of her young students.
• Correct: The teacher was excellent at gauging the interests of her young students.

• Incorrect: The bank is trying to gage the interests of new customers, by offering lower interest rates and a signing bonus.
• Correct: The bank is trying to gauge the interests of new customers, by offering lower interest rates and a signing bonus.

• Incorrect: I attempted to gage their interests in the new subject matter by asking a few questions – to which I received little to no response.
• Correct: I attempted to gauge their interests on the new subject matter by asking a few questions – to which I received little to no response.

• Incorrect: How do you appropriately gage the interest of your audience, without coming across as desperate for information?
• Correct: How do you appropriately gauge the interest of your audience, without coming across as desperate for information?

Is It “Gauging Interest IN” Or “Gauging Interest ON”?

We can use “gauging interest in” and “gauging interest on” whenever we view it as proper. Much of the time, it will depend on the unique situation or circumstance for which of these two phrases you will deem more appropriate to use.

It is proper to say we are “gauging interest on” a subject or “gauging interest in” a subject, however, when used in a sentence it is often that one will come across or read better to an audience.

We can look over the following examples that highlight how the use of the one of the differing phrases can be more appropriate than the other at times:

• Incorrect: I thought I was gauging his interests on the appropriate amount of time – please, don’t rush me.
• Correct: I thought I was gauging his interests in the appropriate amount of time – please, don’t rush me.

• Incorrect: I was gauging her interest in the subject matter.
• Correct: I was gauging her interest on the subject matter.

• Incorrect: I’d like to gauge your interest on coming over to my house this weekend.
• Correct: I’d like to gauge your interest in coming over to my house this weekend.

• Incorrect: I was attempting to gauge his interest on me.
• Correct: I was attempting to gauge his interest in me.

Synonyms For “Gauging Interest”

Lastly, we will be taking a look at some appropriate synonyms for the phrase “gauging interest”. The following can be used as appropriate alternatives:

• Assessing interest
• A measurement of interest
• An evaluation of interest
• An assumption of interest
• An estimation of interest
• Projecting interests