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Common sayings that are commonly misstated
- Thread starter GtenderG
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My father HATED "aminuh".
Aminuh go now. Aminuh have ice cream.
Maybe these will be mentioned already but make me +1 for mis-using "good" and "well", appending the preposition "to" to the end of a sentence e.g. "Where ya' going to? and not adding the "ly" to the adjective when you need an adverb. e.g. "Why are you talking so strange?"
More to the O.T.
One man may lead a horse to water but six can't make him drink. This original usage carries the message better I think.
There is no "hell" to pay rather it's having the devil to pay. This old play on words is from Nelson's Navy of the late 18th sentry (sic). "Paying" a seam is stuffing oakum (a kind of fiber) and hot pitch (tar) into the cracks between the planks of a ship's sides to form a gasket to make the crack watertight. The Devil seam was the one between the garboards and the keel. It was wider than the others and at the deepest point of the hold impossible to come at from inside the boat being that it was under the ballast and deep in a crevice where arms could not fit. Water outside the boat is good; water inside the boat much less so. A leaking devil seam therefore was bad indeed so the saying was: "There'll be the devil to pay and no pitch hot." to signify a dire situation with no clear remedy. It was a poetical way of saying, "This cannot come to any good end." It did not connotate (sic) punishment for mis-deeds as it does now.
Mugre
Aminuh go now. Aminuh have ice cream.
Maybe these will be mentioned already but make me +1 for mis-using "good" and "well", appending the preposition "to" to the end of a sentence e.g. "Where ya' going to? and not adding the "ly" to the adjective when you need an adverb. e.g. "Why are you talking so strange?"
More to the O.T.
One man may lead a horse to water but six can't make him drink. This original usage carries the message better I think.
There is no "hell" to pay rather it's having the devil to pay. This old play on words is from Nelson's Navy of the late 18th sentry (sic). "Paying" a seam is stuffing oakum (a kind of fiber) and hot pitch (tar) into the cracks between the planks of a ship's sides to form a gasket to make the crack watertight. The Devil seam was the one between the garboards and the keel. It was wider than the others and at the deepest point of the hold impossible to come at from inside the boat being that it was under the ballast and deep in a crevice where arms could not fit. Water outside the boat is good; water inside the boat much less so. A leaking devil seam therefore was bad indeed so the saying was: "There'll be the devil to pay and no pitch hot." to signify a dire situation with no clear remedy. It was a poetical way of saying, "This cannot come to any good end." It did not connotate (sic) punishment for mis-deeds as it does now.
Mugre
My wife always says "old and decrepid" instead of "decrepit".
For Spanish (Spanglish) speakers: "Voy a ser la tarea" instead of the correct "voy a hacer la tarea".
For Spanish (Spanglish) speakers: "Voy a ser la tarea" instead of the correct "voy a hacer la tarea".
The one that drives me nuts is using THEN instead of THAN.
Is it really that hard to understand the difference ???
I went to the gig, THEN I came home.
I'd rather play bass THAN play guitar.
Is it really that hard to understand the difference ???
I went to the gig, THEN I came home.
I'd rather play bass THAN play guitar.
When people say quote (speak the quote) unquote. This would indicate that it's no longer a quote.
The correct way is to say quote (speak the quote) end quote. This signifies that you are done saying the quote.
I hear this from national media people. Arrggghhh!
The correct way is to say quote (speak the quote) end quote. This signifies that you are done saying the quote.
I hear this from national media people. Arrggghhh!
Speaking of that, could someone please explain to me what this "ridonculous" nonsense is about?
That one drives me crazy!!!! People do not realize that irregardless is not a word! Thanks for posting that.
Most of the folksy colloquialisms in this thread ('nother, ain't got no, needs fixed) I can appreciate and occasionally use myself. Complete misuse of words, ignorant modifications, misspellings, and phonetic bunglings, I have no patience for.
For some reason, law enforcement and military types like to use "myself", instead of "I" as a subject. As in, "Myself and Officer Baker apprehended the suspect."
It's already been stated but, "irregardless" kills me.
One other that I've just had to get over is that it seems that everyone in North America says "comfterble" instead of "comfortable." I will lose that war so I choose not to fight it but it's finger nails on a chalk board to me.
Oh and I work in construction, so there's a type of landscaping called "xeriscaping" and pretty much everyone calls it "zero-scaping." Xeri means dry and it has nothing to do with "zero" but people think it's "zeroscaping" because you don't necessarily cover the ground in grass. Irregardless, correcting people will do as much good as pouring a hot cup of expresso on my own face so, I try to just let it go.
One other that I've just had to get over is that it seems that everyone in North America says "comfterble" instead of "comfortable." I will lose that war so I choose not to fight it but it's finger nails on a chalk board to me.
Oh and I work in construction, so there's a type of landscaping called "xeriscaping" and pretty much everyone calls it "zero-scaping." Xeri means dry and it has nothing to do with "zero" but people think it's "zeroscaping" because you don't necessarily cover the ground in grass. Irregardless, correcting people will do as much good as pouring a hot cup of expresso on my own face so, I try to just let it go.
TNCreature said:
My mother in law once stated at the end of a busy day, "I have been working head to the bone!"
Which I assume was an unintentional mix of "screaming my head off" and "working my finger to the bone".
I imagined her using her scalp as an eraser.
I try not to be pedantic about small mistakes, but I noticed certain uppity people use "I" instead of "me" incorrectly all the time, as if it makes them sound more intelligent. They sound just as dumb as using "me" incorrectly.
Just a pronunciation issue, not a saying.
Tons of people, including tae kwon do instructors, say "ty kwon do", with the first syllable said like tie. It's teh kwon do, with the first syllable said like the first syllable of television.
Tons of people, including tae kwon do instructors, say "ty kwon do", with the first syllable said like tie. It's teh kwon do, with the first syllable said like the first syllable of television.
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