CNN, sheesh

Seen a few minutes ago, not in the ticker but in the chyron:

WH: TRUMP ASKING CONFIDENTS IF KUSHNER DID ANYTHING WRONG

From Garner’s Modern English Usage:

Until 1700 or so, the English word was confident (= a trusty friend or adherent), the correct French forms being confident and confidente. But early in the 18th century, English writers began substituting an -a- for the -e- in the final syllable, perhaps because of the French nasal pronunciation of -ent and -ente.

Today the forms confidant and confidante predominate in both AmE and BrE, though confidante is falling into disuse because of what is increasingly thought to be a needless distinction between males and females.

Dunning K. Trump may still have confidants, but very few people I know have ever been confident in him or in those around him.

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