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words most often used incorrectly

#183
How many times have you heard somebody say the incorrect phrase, "That is a tough road to hoe" when the correct phrase is "That is a tough row to hoe"? That is a farming phrase meaning that the ground is hard and/or rocky and it would take much work to hoe the soil to make a row to plant crops.
 
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#184
Richland123 said:
How many times have you heard somebody say the incorrect phrase, "That is a tough road to hoe" when the correct phrase is "That is a tough row to hoe"? That is a farming phrase meaning that the ground is hard and/or rocky and it would take much work to hoe the soil to make a row to plant crops.
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I've actually never heard anyone say that phrase at all, whether correctly stated or not. I've heard of it, it's just never come up in conversation.

Has anybody mentioned "comprise" yet? (I can't remember if I did, but it gets my knickers in a twist...)

Anyways, very simply, "comprise" is to be made of, not to make up. Big whole thing comprises the small parts.

Example: Voltron comprises 5 lion robots. (Voltron is made of 5 lion robots.)

It's not "is comprised of" because the 'is' and the 'of' are already in the definition of comprise - that would read "is was made of of"! If you wanted to phrase it that way, it would be 'compose' instead: "Voltron is composed of 5 lion robots."

=0)
 
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#185
Turock said:
"Up" is as misused as any word I've seen.
close up
open up
burn up
shine up
eat up
wash up
stand up
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Regarding "UP," I came across this when studying a new language:
AF_UP-1_rot.jpg
AF_UP-2_rot.jpg
 
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#187
DDXdesign said:
Has anybody mentioned "comprise" yet? (I can't remember if I did, but it gets my knickers in a twist...)
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I review technical documents and I see that one all the time, usually in some kind of descriptive prose. "The satellite system is comprised of a radome, steerable antenna and a modem." It's a losing battle but I usually suggest that they avoid the term altogether.

I leave you with this phrase sung by Virgil Simms, "If I'd a knowed that you'da wanted to have went with me, I'da seed that you'da got-ta-get-ta go."

 
#188
Here is another phrase I hear people saying wrong - "Nip it in the butt". The correct phase is "Nip it in the bud"

"Nip in the bud" comes from horticulture, where trimming a bud from a plant prevents the bud from becoming a flower or fruit. Used metaphorically, the phrase usually means to stop a potential problem before it develops.
 
#196
malthumb said:
It also means "to cause aggravation" which is what people tend to mean when they say something/one aggravates them.
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He he he, @Coriolis's observation stands for the noun as well: "aggravation" has an etymological meaning, namely "worsening", that some accept as the sole valid one, vs. that of "exasperation (given/received)".
At this point the two of you could start all over from the noun instead of the verb... ;)

Just kidding. Of course as a Romance language speaker* I find the second meaning odd, but I have no opinion on whether it deserves censure.


*OTOH in Portuguese agravar can also mean "to (be) offend(ed)". Word meanings expand and shift all the time (gradually).
 
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#198
I have a coworker who likes using "exacerbate" to try to sound important, except he tends to pronounce it as "exasperate", which does not have the desired effect.
 

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