Commonly misused phrases and clichés Feb19 '08
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# (2 of 12): Andy Atkinson
2 days, 8 hours after the fact. (Thu 21 Feb 2008, 7:38 PM CST)
Another guy was ranting recently about incorrectly replacing "Flesh out the details" with "Flush out..." Now of course flushing something out, like flushing something down the toilet, makes sense by itself, but the phrase that some people intend to use but say incorrectly is usually "Flesh out."
"...add details..." http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/flesh%20out
# (3 of 12): Sean O » sean-o.com
1 week, 1 day after the fact. (Wed 27 Feb 2008, 3:27 PM CST)
"...confuse it's meaning."
Perhaps you confused its meaning? :)
--SEAN Subscriber & Fellow Grammar Nazi (sparing the Bob the Angry Flower link)
# (4 of 12): William E. Baxendale
2 weeks, 6 days after the fact. (Mon 10 Mar 2008, 2:16 PM CST)
When others add the last word to initials forming an abbreviation after the the abbreviation: Examples: ATM Machine, VIN Number. One would not say, "USA America" or "MLB Baseball"...would one?
# (5 of 12): Marc W
3 months, 1 week after the fact. (Fri 30 May 2008, 1:38 PM CST)
I have a couple of phrases that often confuse me as try to parse their meanings. 1. I often hear people say "I was standing on line at the bank". Is it standing on line or standing in line? 2. When referencing an item in a contract clause, such as terms and conditions, is correct to say "based on time & materials" or "based off of time & materials"?
# (6 of 12): Lisa
4 months after the fact. (Thu 19 Jun 2008, 2:46 PM CST)
I find rather amusing when people say “For all intensive purposes”, and always feel compelled to correct them. I guess they could mean “For all highly concentrated purposes”, but I’m pretty sure it should be “For all intents and purposes”. smiles
# (7 of 12): Mike
4 months, 2 weeks after the fact. (Sun 06 Jul 2008, 9:11 PM CST)
Those are some of my pet peeves as well. How about the misuse of "literally". i.e., "the Celtics literally killed the Lakers." Not true, the Lakers lost by 40, but they are still (for now) alive.
# (8 of 12): Cheryl
6 months, 2 weeks after the fact. (Tue 02 Sep 2008, 12:11 AM CST)
Here's one that I hate: : "walk on eggshells". The expression is used to signify walking, talking or acting with great care so as to avoid a confrontation. So the correct phrase is "walk on eggs". Walking on eggshells would tend to have the opposite effect because it is noisy and could be irritating.
# (9 of 12): Dylan
7 months after the fact. (Mon 22 Sep 2008, 1:33 PM CST)
I am confused "Have your cake and eat it too" is correct, meaning that sometimes you do not get all you want, and in some cases you get everything you want. For instance, you have a girlfriend and have great sex all the time, but she is constantly a bitch and makes you miserable.... "You can't have your cake and eat it too". The sex is having the cake in front of you and her being a bitch is not being able to eat it too. The way you explained it makes no sense.
# (10 of 12): Richard W
7 months, 1 week after the fact. (Thu 25 Sep 2008, 5:11 AM CST)
"Walking on eggshells" is something one would do with great care so as to avoid both making a noise and hurting ones feet, thus walking on eggshells is correct.
And "eat your cake and have it too" does, sort of, mean what you say Dylan but it is used in the context that if you EAT the cake you no longer HAVE the cake whereas if you HAVE the cake it is perfectly possible for you to EAT it in the future, which does make perfect sense. So basically you can't have it all your own way.
# (11 of 12): Cheryl
7 months, 1 week after the fact. (Fri 26 Sep 2008, 11:50 PM CST)
Richard W: No. "Walking on eggs" is correct; but if you want to use the phrase incorrectly, that's fine.
# (12 of 12): Jason F
8 months, 3 weeks after the fact. (Thu 13 Nov 2008, 1:51 AM CST)
Two of my favorite are "nip it in the butt" and "play it by year" I hear both phrases said incorrectly like this all the time and they make no sense. It makes me laugh every time.
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I started an Utter thread on misuse of the phrase, "I could care less." Since then, many have chimed in with other misused phrases.
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# (1 of 12): Anon
2 hours, 27 minutes after the fact. (Tue 19 Feb 2008, 1:06 PM CST)
I don't know about you, but I had a girlfriend that ceased to amaze me, and that's why she's my ex!
Speaking of which, "I don't know about you" is often misused.