This post draws its inspiration from a ragan.com article titled “5 Oft-Misspelled Idioms,” but I think the author is talking more about clichés, those much-loved and often disrespected expressions that creep into our daily speech, no matter how hip we think we are.
Maeve Maddox presents five expressions that are often confused in the speaking or the spelling:
Waiting with Bated Breath
The whole idea here is that you’re holding your breath or at least lessening it in intensity, as you wait to hear an outcome. “Bated” is actually a form of the verb abate. But in a lot of writing, it appears as “baited.” What would you bait your breath with?
Lo and behold
I’ve always loved this expression, because it’s such a great way to introduce a little suspense into a spoken narrative. As in, “I decided to find out who was stealing the chocolate chip cookies, so I hid in the pantry. And lo and behold … ” Apparently, this is often written as “low and behold.”
Pore over
I’m a little surprised that this one is misrendered, but it is. Most of us, I think, know that “poring over” something means diligently studying it, like the IRS’s instructions on completing a form. (If that doesn’t require poring, I don’t know what does.) But it seems that some folks write “pore” as “pour” like what you do in a recipe. “Pour the brandy over the crêpe and ignite it with a dramatic flourish.”
Toe the line
You’d better toe the line, buster. This expression comes from the world of foot-racing, where everyone lines up against a line. That is, they conform. Often written as “tow the line,” maybe this mistake is not so hard to understand. Except that the whole idea of towing a line, when you think about it, doesn’t really equate to getting with the program.
Pique my curiosity
Pique is misspelled frequently—often as “peek” or “peak.” In French, pique means stimulate. (Or, you can experience “a fit of pique,” which usually refers to irritation or resentment.) So if someone or something piqued your interest, then it stimulated you.
I’m always curious about how common expressions are misspelled or misstated. One of my faves is “Let’s flush this out,” which is probably a good idea in some cases. But the real expression is “flesh this out,” which means “Let’s put some meat on the bones of this idea.” And there’s “We gave him free reign.” The confusion around this one is not so difficult to understand, but the correct rendering is “We gave him free rein,” in the same way you give a horse free rein to find its own path along a difficult trail.
Have you got any examples? One that makes me chuckle is “Six or half a dozen of one or the other.”
Photo credit: iofoto — 123rf.com
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