Topic: Phrases that people get wrong

[Alan_X]

"Same difference" does my nut in!

That's not wrong.

[Brother Mouzone]

When a film is nothing but eye candy instead of having to use your brain, I say it's eye candy. My mate says "chewing gum for the eyes" and that phrase really annoys me for some reason. Does it make sense?

"Chewing gum for the eyes" is a mid 20th century quote related to the futility and banality of television as an art form - no nutritional value.

Eye candy is a pretty recent phrase that basically means the person you are looking at has no particular value other than the fact that you wouldn't mind shagging them.

[Brother Mouzone]

There are so many that people get wrong. People saying they "did it off their own back" instead of "off their own bat".

But I also get annoyed with people getting lend/borrow, teach/learn and imply/infer the wrong way around. I won't hijack this thread with my pedantic grumpy old man routine though.

[Nessy76]

Bare with me

Could be fun. (If that's you in that avatar, anyway...)

[OohCampione]

Not a saying as such, but a Shakesperian quotation

"Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well"

When, in fact, it is "Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him, Horatio . . . "

[Nessy76]

Not a saying as such, but a Shakesperian quotation

"Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well"

When, in fact, it is "Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him, Horatio . . . "

"Beam me up Scotty"
"Elementary, dear Watson"
etc, etc (there's another one "Ect", horrible)

[Alan_X]

Not a saying as such, but a Shakesperian quotation

"Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well"

When, in fact, it is "Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him, Horatio . . . "

Err... no. That punctuation makes no sense.

'Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him Horatio; a man of infinite jest (and so on)...

[CHOPPER]

"A horse, a horse, A kingdom for my Ruud Van Nistelrooy"

Always get that wrong.

[Alan_X]

A hod's as good as a sink to a blind Norse...

[OohCampione]

Err... no. That punctuation makes no sense.

'Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him Horatio; a man of infinite jest (and so on)...

I'm pretty sure the (and so on)... wasn't part of it

[Komic]

Not a phrase but my mate used to think the Aerosmith song was called 'Doodles like a lady'

[Brian Blessed]

One of my favourites is "a fine toothcomb" - what the hell is a toothcomb?

Can we also include people who say "Four-head" instead of forehead (forrid)?

it's fine tooth comb. The tines on a comb are teeth. When they're thin they're fine, making it a fine tooth comb.

And I say four head, so there.

[Brian Blessed]

Could be opening a can of worms but, "play by ear" or "play by year?".

play by ear, as in can play music by hearing it, rather than reading it.

[Effes]

I love the STan Laurel phrase:

You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead.

[Gobias Industries]

A big one that has been used wrong so commonly that most people think that is actually the phrase, and complain that it makes no sense, is "To have one's cake and eat it too."

It should be "To eat one's cake and have it too." meaning that once you've eaten your cake, it's gone, you can't have it any more.

I'm sick of hearing people say "Well if you can't eat the cake what's the point of having it? That's just silly."

The government should start a campaign to teach the country the correct form of that phrase.

[Alan_X]

A big one that has been used wrong so commonly that most people think that is actually the phrase, and complain that it makes no sense, is "To have one's cake and eat it too."

It should be "To eat one's cake and have it too." meaning that once you've eaten your cake, it's gone, you can't have it any more.

I'm sick of hearing people say "Well if you can't eat the cake what's the point of having it? That's just silly."

The government should start a campaign to teach the country the correct form of that phrase.

The commonly accepted version is "to have one's cake..." As possession is continuous, the order is irrelevant. The point is you can't do both - have/eat/have - whichever order you place them in a sentence.

[Effes]

A big one that has been used wrong so commonly that most people think that is actually the phrase, and complain that it makes no sense, is "To have one's cake and eat it too."

You're not wrong there

[ewok-red]

Pacific instead of specific.

I hear this LOTS, is it a north west thing?

[El Diablos]

A big one that has been used wrong so commonly that most people think that is actually the phrase, and complain that it makes no sense, is "To have one's cake and eat it too."

It should be "To eat one's cake and have it too." meaning that once you've eaten your cake, it's gone, you can't have it any more.

I'm sick of hearing people say "Well if you can't eat the cake what's the point of having it? That's just silly."

The government should start a campaign to teach the country the correct form of that phrase.

according to wiki

"The phrase's earliest recording is from 1546 as "wolde you bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?" (John Heywood's 'A dialogue Conteinyng the Nomber in Effect of All the Prouerbes in the Englishe Tongue') alluding to the impossibility of eating your cake and still having it afterwards; the modern version (where the clauses are reversed) is a corruption which was first signaled in 1812"

so the version "to have one's cake and eat it" has been in more popular use for 200 years.

[jcsue3828]

This has always bugged me...

Why do Americans say:

"I could care less"

as opposed to...

"I couldn't care less'.

Surely if you 'could care less' then it could be worse. Doesn't make sense.

a rant by david mitchell on exactly what you have said. i could care less if you watch it or not .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw

[El Diablos]

Another common one is mispronouncing 'clique' as 'click'. This often continues on to the spelling also, just today a poster on Rawk wrote "Its like an old boys click on here". My mum does this one all the time, in fact my mum, a good old scouse ma in her 70's now, mispronounces words and mixes up phrases very frequently.  She's like a mix between Mrs Malaprop and Hilda Ogden god bless her.

Another common one, although i think this is more to do with accent and pronunciation rather than the word itself being incorrect, is pronouncing 'ask' as either 'axe' or 'arcs'. That's a very common one in South London where I live, as all the kids sound like they're in Attack the Block.

[dnkw]

It audopends where you come from

Yeah that's pretty finnicky

You mean, 'finicky' 

[cathy-lfc-taff]

Not a phrase but all the males in my family say "pelanty" instead of "penalty".

[Brian Blessed]

Not a phrase but all the males in my family say "pelanty" instead of "penalty".

I hope you have no sons.

[Elzar]

Duck Tape

[Chakan]

Duck Tape

How else do you keep your ducks?

[Alan_X]

Duck Tape

[SMD]

Fear of the Dog.

[redgriffin73]

"Here, here" instead of "hear, hear" is a very common one on here.

[rushyman]

I was out in a mask the other night and was on my 3rd victim, the other two were in the boot. So as I hid there in the bushes a young bloke of 30 walks past and I leap out, hammer in hand, and go for the skull, but he hears me and turns, I only nick him over the eye and he screams and runs. panicking, I take chase after him. In his confusion he runs right into traffic and is killed by a bus on its last rounds

'Alls well that ends well' I said to myself. But then thought no, fuck, thats a play by Shakespeare isnt it? it cant be a saying aswell..

What an idiot

Anyway Im 'In a pickle' over what to do with these bodys. hang on... pickle.....I like it....

[SalisburyRed]

"To all intensive purposes..." (To all intents and purposes.)
"First come, first serve." (First come, first served. - very pedantic I guess, but I always notice it.)

[redgriffin73]

"First come, first serve." (First come, first served. - very pedantic I guess, but I always notice it.)

In a similar-ish vein, people saying someone/thing was "bias" instead of "biased" is very common.

[SalisburyRed]

In a similar-ish vein, people saying someone/thing was "bias" instead of "biased" is very common.

Yeah, that one always annoys me too.

In sum, I need to get out more.

[Barneylfc∗]

People that use the word texted piss me off. Or instead of saying texts, as its meant to be said, they say 'textiz'.

The one that really bites my bollocks is Tesco's. Its not called fucking Tesco's, its called Tesco.

[El Diablos]

My mum says 'very close veins' instead of varicose

[Raul!]

"To all intensive purposes..." (To all intents and purposes.)
"First come, first serve." (First come, first served. - very pedantic I guess, but I always notice it.)

Not pedantic at all, I applaud you.

[Effes]

Are there things which appear to be the stable of life for other people that you avoid or don't like or don't do?

[DizzyMunchkin]

My mum  says Vista instead of Visa & mispronounces players names!!! get fed up with correcting her then 2 mins later says the same thing 

[Nessy76]

it's fine tooth comb. The tines on a comb are teeth. When they're thin they're fine, making it a fine tooth comb.

And I say four head, so there.

I know it's fine-tooth or even fine-toothed comb, that's why it's funny when people say "toothcomb" sometimes they don't even say the "fine" bit! "I've been over it with a toothcomb" "with a what?"

And stop saying four head, it's silly.

[Koplass]

I do this all the time. Basically given up on trying to pronounce specific the correct way. I'd rather use the word pacific than end up saying something like sawpefific.

I suppose you could just pronounce it correctly.

Speh-sif-ik.

Not too hard.