"Having his cake..."--why does everybody get this wrong? (1 Viewer)

[Jagan Seshadri]

999 out of 1000 people agree that 1 out of 1000 people disagree.

And how about this misstated saying: "The proof is in the pudding". NO IT'S NOT!!! (Imagine me reaching into a bowlful of pudding and yanking out the proof.)

"The proof of the pudding is in the tasting," Q.E.D.

-JNS

 

[Jon_Are]

Ike and Andrew, I stand corrected on 'ironical'.

How ironical that I would get that wrong.

Jon

(who never minds being corrected, because it means I've learned something)

 

[Mike Broadman]

From dictionary.com
vir·tu·al·ly Pronunciation Key (vûrch--l) adv.
1. In fact or to all purposes; practically: The city was virtually paralyzed by the transit strike.
2. Almost but not quite; nearly: Virtually everyone gets a headache now and then (People).
So, "virtualy everyone" seems acceptable (for the record I never said it wasn't ).

 

[Scott_G]

I think most of us just repeat what we have heard and don't really think about it.

I'm in computer hardware and got corrected a few years ago when I was saying "NIC card". NIC stands for "network interface card". I still notice a lot of people in my field saying this one and I try to correct them with something like "you want this network interface card card ??" It helps if you make a joke out of the situation yet pass along a little correction.

 

[Jon_Are]

There's also PIN number, VIN number, and ATM machine (already mentioned, I know), and my favorite redundancy, from George Carlin:

Hot water heater.

Jon

 

[Aaron Copeland]

My old stomping grounds. (my old stamping grounds)

Both are correct.
http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=stomping%20ground
Aaron

 

[andrew markworthy]

Sorry to nitpick, but 'proof of the pudding' makes perfect sense. 'Proof' can also mean 'test' - thus, 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating' means that the test of whether it's a good pudding is in what it tastes, rather than looks like (at the time of its origins, the phrase probably referred to a savoury pie or stew, such as pease pudding, rather than a fancy dessert). Hence also the apparently paradoxical phrase 'it's the exception that proves the rule'; after all, it is the exception rather than something which conforms which tests if a rule is correct.

 

[ken thompson]

I would like to point to the phrase "Who gives a rats ass". I think it applies appropriately to this thread.

 

[MikeF]

My pet peeve: people who preface their sentences with "to be frank" or "honestly". (As opposed, of course, to "dishonestly" or "to be deceitful".)

 

[Tom Rhea]

If the entire English speaking world doesn't stop using the word "apropos" as if it were a synonym for "appropriate" I'll not be responsible for what happens when I snap. "Apropos" means "pertaining to" or "regarding."

 

[MickeS]

It bugs me when people make references to an alternate or parallel universe. By definition, a universe is comprised of all that exists. Thus there can be only one!

What definition is that? The universe is comprised of all that exists IN THAT UNIVERSE. If there is another universe OUTSIDE that universe, it's a parallell universe.

/Mike

 

[RobertR]

The universe is comprised of all that exists IN THAT UNIVERSE

I agree with James. The definition of "The universe" is:

The aggregate of all existing things; the sum total of creation.

It's true that one can refer to, for example, the universe of things within a certain realm (for example, all red haired people), but when talking about THE Universe, it refers to EVERYTHING that exists. Therefore, it's much more accurate to use, say "parallel dimensional plane" or something similar, instead of "parallel universe".

 

[Dheiner]

My $.02 worth.

Home theatre is his forte [pronounced for-tay]. (home theatre is his forte [pronounced fort ])

According to dictionary.com either pronunciation is correct.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Ken, 'frase' is spelt with a 'ph' at the beginning instead of an 'f', and 'rats ass' should have an apostrophe between the 't' and the 's' of 'rats'. And if you didn't give a toss(to use the Brit equivalent phrase) about this thread, then why bother to read it?

'Forte' can be pronounced either way in Brit pronunciation as well (something I didn't know until I checked it up in Chambers just now; you learn something new every day, etc, etc).

 

[Jagan Seshadri]

You know, the whole way that people misuse language enables that language to evolve (devolve?). If the language police had been around back in the 1600s, we would still be theeing and thying and saying "betwixt" a lot.
I suspect that in another 250 years everything will be written in l33t. Part of that whole cyborgization thing.
But never fear, there will always be Latin for those rulemongers out there
-JNS

 

[Julie K]

As for "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," think of it as a hunter would.

Ah, beat me to it. I can eat the bird I'm holding, but there's no guarantee that I can even catch the two hiding in the bush.
Getting rid of 'alternate universe' is going to upset a lot of science fiction writers and fans. I would say there's a well-defined usage of the term.
I'm also going to defend "near miss". The event was a miss, but one at a small distance instead of a large distance. Such distinctions make a big difference in your laundry bill
Here's one I like. A nice bilingual redundancy:
The La Brea Tar Pits.

 

[Jack Briggs]

I doubt if even most Angelenos know what you've just said, Julie!

 

[Marvin]

"I could care less" is actually correct, if interpreted as a sarcastic remark.

I don't have a problem with RBIs. Otherwise, wouldn't pluralizing "DVD" be incorrect? The acronym DVD also stands for Digital Video (or versatile) Discs (even if the redundant "s" would be on the last word).

 

[Greg_R]

low frequencies = bass, not base!

 

[Cees Alons]

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

Got to agree with Julie. In my language the ratio is even higher (although we leave out the actual worth): One bird in the hand is better than ten in the air. Close to: Don't sell the bear's hide before he's shot.

An expression that puzzles me (and I often see it on this forum) is: "anyhoo", or "anywho". I suppose it should be simply "anyhow"?

Cees