Common sayings people get wrong

[Kalimantan Gull]

Mark Kermode on the BBC film show was wondering what a Crowf was, as in the phrase, 'As the Crowf Lies'

 

[Tom Bombadil]

also people dont technically get it wrong, but it make no sense what so ever, "have your cake and eat it". its cake. its purpose is to be eaten. why would i want to have it otherwise.

It means you want it both ways . You want to eat your cake and still have it, (maybe to eat later with a nice cup of tea).

 

[30209]

I did not know that!

I now have to go back over a number of conversations and mentally chastise myself in retrospect.

Thank you

Don't thank me - knowing is a curse! I've just opened up a whole new avenue of irritation for you as I thnk it is the most misused expressio. if you use it correctly no-one will know what you mean!

 

[Prince Monolulu]

Probably should be on another thread but reading some posts on social media, can all those using the word 'hun' (for honey) in questions or observations please go and boil your head.

 

[Codner's Crackpipe]

While I'm not sure its 100% accurate to this thread, the American habit of saying "I could care less" when they mean "I couldn't care less" annoys me more than it should do.

Entirely rational. File under the insidious creep of "season" (instead of "series") and "gotten" (instead of "become").

 

[rabbitmaddie]

"State of the ark"

Almost the exact opposite of "state of the art"

 

[DFL JCL]

A lot of these are examples of egg corns aren't they? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Regardless of the exact wording of the original quote, this is one of the examples of the language developing and changing. Through common usage, 'Money is the root of all evil' has become a saying in its own right, albeit derived from an earlier, longer, more specific phrase.

May hell freeze over before 'would of' becomes standard, but I think it's fair to say that 'Money is the root of all evil' is now an accepted part of the vernacular.

I agree totally.

But it is a biblical quotation, and if one is writing or talking about something that Jesus is supposed to have said, there is a world of difference between "Money is the root of all evil" and "The Love of Money is the root of all evil".

In other words,If anybody says "It says in the Bible that Money is the root of all evil", they are wrong.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Hmm. I agree the verse is saying that. But people often leave out 'all kinds' which assigns the love of money to being behind every evil when with 'all kinds' it means lots of different sorts, but crucially not every sort.

I agree! Maybe we should have a separate theological discussion thread, although some of this might broaden the horizons of others with narrow views about religion.

 

[Eddiespearritt]

Not a phrase I hear daily any more - but I get annoyed when people say "it's a mute point" rather than "it's a moot point". Listen to Talksport for about 15 minutes and you'll hear the destruction of the english language laid out in its full unadulterated glory - even given the inanities of the norf and sarf London accents that seem prevalent. Eg: Ray Parlour "ooo was you finking abaht playin in midfield".

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Anythink gets on my nerves more than it probably should.

St. Pancreas and London Houston were two I used to hear when I worked at Brighton Station that annoyed me as well.

Watching America TV as a kid I thought there were 3 major coastal cities in California, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Ellais ... fool

 

[Bodian]

Borrow and lend regularly get mixed up.

Would you borrow me a fiver?

Can I lend your *******?

This is an interesting one. I think it's a dialect thing, rather than something that some people get wrong. If you go to Birmingham, and quite a few places up north they use these terms in this way all the time. As in 'Can I lend a tenner from you' instead of 'Can I borrow a tenner'. It stumped me at first, but I got used to it, but you do have to work out which way round they're meaning (although to be fair, no-one has ever come up to me offering to lend me a tenner...)

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

Instead of saying "as dry as a bone" my dear Wife says "dry as a dog", bless!

 

[half time scores]

Humble pie

 

[Easy 10]

"Butter wouldn't melt in his/her mouth", or the more usual abbreviated "butter wouldn't melt" is a saying I have never quite understood. People seem to use it when they see a picture of someone or something apparently "cute" - often someones BAYBEE or something. But surely it implies a coldness inside of them, which is hardly a compliment.

"Awww...butter wouldn't melt, hun"
"So you're saying Cressida is some sort of REPTILE ?"
*blocked*

 

[FatSuperman]

While I'm not sure its 100% accurate to this thread, the American habit of saying "I could care less" when they mean "I couldn't care less" annoys me more than it should do.

I saw this thread just now and the first thing I did is check for this. It infuriates me for some reason and on the rare occasion I hear someone say it (a few of the grads in our office use the phrase!) I can't help but publicly lambast them. There is getting a phrase muddled, and then there is getting it so wrong that what you say is the opposite of the intent. Even worse, nearly all of them insist that they are correct in their usage - no doubt reinforced by American television etc.

 

[bhanutz]

Yes, the number of times that has come up on NSC even the dimmest should of got that one right by now!

I see what you did there...Very clever!

 

[alfredmizen]

An old colleague of mine always used the expression "As happy as sand Larry"

It's as happy as a sandboy

 

[FatSuperman]

But surely it implies a coldness inside of them, which is hardly a compliment.

I don't think it's supposed to be a compliment, although I think you're right that it's used like that now. I always took it to mean that someone looked pure, or cute, or cool whatever, but actually were fake.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

"cheap at half the price". erm, dont be daft, that means its expensive. you mean "cheap at twice the price". the former may be allowed to market stall holder trying to make a sly, comical point, knowing their wares are tat.

"Cheap at half the price" is the original and correct version of the saying. In Middle English, cheap, or "cheep" also meant goods or property, so the street cry, "Cheap at half the price!", was the Middle Ages' equivalent of today's shop window sign, "All stock 50% off". Chaucer uses this meaning in, "...greet cheep is holde at litel pris...". That is to say, where there is an abundance, "greet cheep" = great supply of goods, the price is low "..holde at litel price" = is valued at a low price. Possibly the earliest reference to supply and demand! The corruption, "Cheap at twice the price" would have appeared through a misunderstanding of the original meaning of "cheep".