# Commonly mangled phrases or words **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 9, 2005, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867 "2005-12-09T13:42:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![meanoldman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@meanoldman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meanoldman)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/81 "2005-12-11T06:55:20Z")
Some of these things are contagious. I hear an entire dept where I work talk about turning in their financial reports “before the end of the physical year”. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/82 "2005-12-11T12:15:12Z")
Saying “here comes the calvary!” when it’s supposed to be “cavalry”. I heard this once again on our local news, used by a clueless reporter. Cavalry is a military unit on horseback, Calvary was a place of execution. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/83 "2005-12-11T14:18:00Z")
(Not sure if this has been mentioned… too lazy to check…) I hate it when someone substitutes _less_ for _fewer_. Yesterday, I was so happy to see someone get it right – a sign at the grocery store that read “This line if you have 8 items or fewer” – that I thanked the checkout person. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/84 "2005-12-11T14:40:33Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Yeah, and I finally figured out where it comes from! > I was reading an old book, wherein a character goes, “I know not, and could care less.” > > !!! > > Mystery solved! It’s not just a corruption of “I couldn’t care less,” it’s part of a longer cliche in which it makes perfect semantic sense. > > Isn’t this one of those holy grail thingies? Do I win cash prizes? “Couldn’t care less” makes literal sense. “Could care less” does make sense too in the context above especially given the way people spoke way back when. It would make even more sense if 'could" was eliminated or replaced with “do”. Are you saying, however, that the latter (could) is the origin of the phrase? ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/85 "2005-12-11T15:03:13Z")
> [@marque elf](#): > > My late wife would say “six of one and half of another”. I never called her on it but it always bugged me. She also argued that “crick” was a perfectly allowable pronunciation of the word “creek” which always struck me as arrant nonsense. She, a very literate and well spoken women, also insisted on pronouncing “something” as “sumptin’”. She always accused me of pronouncing “with” as “widj”. which of course only happened in her fevered imagination. > > A thing that really bothers me is those authors who insist on spelling “All right” as if it were one word; “alright” or those who don’t know the difference between “always” and “all ways”. Don’t these fools have editors? Was your late wife from the Philadelphia area? My mom was from around there and she also said that the little stream running through the meadow was a “crick.” But if you got a spasm in your back, that was a “creek.” The national bird was an “iggle.” With you on your second paragraph, too. There is no such word as “alright.” ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/86 "2005-12-12T00:02:51Z")
> [@Talon Karrde](#): > > I should have used the word ‘understandable’ instead of ‘forgivable’, that’s what I meant. I retract my objection. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/87 "2005-12-12T00:45:32Z")
> [@Cub Mistress](#): > > My anatomy professor used “orientated” last week and I flinched. Why, dammit?! “Orient” is a word meaning “East”, so if you say “disoriented” I assume you mean you have been deported from an Eastern country, or some such. If you are confused or unsure of your surroundings, you’re “disorientated”. I put “disoriented” in the “hideous Americanisms” category :). ---
**Author:** ![buns3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@buns3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buns3000)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/88 "2005-12-12T02:30:17Z")
I like to perpetuate the mangled phrases I’ve heard. Not too many spring to mind right now except “no skin off my _back_” (as opposed to “nose”) and one used by a good friend of mine - “There’s no two doubts about it”, combining “no doubt about it” and “no two ways about it”. ---
**Author:** ![EvilGhandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@EvilGhandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilGhandi)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/89 "2005-12-12T04:12:33Z")
Oh good, a chance to vent. It’s not a hambooger for christs sake, you’re a woman nearing fifty, say it with me. Hamburger, a hambooger comes out of a pigs nose. One I like, piece a’ slut for pizza hut. Im an ass. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/90 "2005-12-12T05:21:34Z")
> [@Dead Cat](#): > > Why, dammit?! “Orient” is a word meaning “East”, so if you say “disoriented” I assume you mean you have been deported from an Eastern country, or some such. If you are confused or unsure of your surroundings, you’re “disorientated”. I put “disoriented” in the “hideous Americanisms” category :). Nope, “orientate” is wrong. It’s a back-formation from “orientation,” and would be akin to saying “conversate” instead of “converse.” “Orient” is a perfectly good verb, and does not need the “-ate” to make it one. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/91 "2005-12-12T05:26:06Z")
> [@What the .... ?!?!](#): > > “Couldn’t care less” makes literal sense. “Could care less” does make sense too in the context above especially given the way people spoke way back when. It would make even more sense if 'could" was eliminated or replaced with “do”. > > Are you saying, however, that the latter (could) is the origin of the phrase? That’s my theory: that the declaration “I know not, and could care less” was in common usage–it’s somewhat idiomatic in its own right–and over time the first part fell away, to leave only “I could care less.” It makes more sense to me, than that “I could care less” sprang out of nowhere, and has NEVER made any sense. By the way, one of my other peeves is “everyday” and “backyard” used as nouns instead of adjectives. You wear your everyday clothes every day; and you install the backyard fence in the back yard. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/92 "2005-12-12T06:31:29Z")
“My point being is…” -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/93 "2005-12-12T06:37:38Z")
[QUOTE=Spatial Rift 47] No, it’s not forgivable. It’s = it is. Its _X_ = the _X_ that belongs to it. If you start allowing “it’s” as a possessive, what will we use as a contraction of “it is”? How would you read the first sentence of my post? [QUOTE] While I agree with your conclusion, your argument is easily answer. I would read the first sentence of your post by realizing that the sentence makes no sense if “it’s” is a possessive, so the contraction must be the intended sense of the word. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/94 "2005-12-12T18:23:04Z")
> [@Miss Purl McKnittington](#): > > _Wensday/Wenzday_ is a perfectly correct pronunciation. In American English, voiced consonants following nasal vowels are deleted. The _e_ in Wednesday is nasal and _d_ is a voiced consonant, so it’s deleted, hence Wensday/Wenzday. It’s a difference of dialect if Brits pronounce the d, not an issue of which one is more correct. Likewise with nukular, irregardless, supposably, ign’nt, and many others. I agree, dear Miss Purl. Perhaps I wasn’t clear. My way of saying Wed’n’sday is a personal quirk. I say it that way because I like it, and because it’s respectful of a deity that nobody pays much fealty to anymore, not because it is correct. I acknowledge that modern English is continuously evolving. I don’t have to like it, though. I might even drag my feet as I’m towed toward “different than.” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/95 "2005-12-12T18:45:22Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it. I usually go with “We’ll cross that bridge when we find it” from a song by Duran Duran. > [@AuntiePam](#): > > Jewelry’s another one – jew-la-ree. That ain’t right, is it? Isn’t it “jewel-ry”? You’d think, but then I realized I had been saying “uncomfterble” all these years and now have to force myself to say un-com-fort-able. > [@Miss Bianca](#): > > “chomping” at the bit. It’s champing at the bit, mofos, CHAMPING!!! This actually never registered with me, thanks for the tip. My pet peeves lately are “added bonus” since you’d think a bonus is already added and “What I am saying is, is that …” or “The reason why is, is because…” GAAH!! ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/96 "2005-12-12T18:59:26Z")
I knew someone who insisted that “truck” _must_ be pronounced with a proper ‘t’ sound at the beginning. She would correct people when they would say “chruck” What was funny about this was, she herself always said “chruck,” never “truck” unless she was emphasizing that ‘t’ in order to correct someone. I pointed this out to her, and she insisted she was saying “t’ruck,” not “chruck.” I would tell her to say it quickly in the middle of a sentence, and she would clearly and unmistakably say “chruck,” and I would point it out, and she would insist she hadn’t said “chruck” but “t’ruck.” She actually got really mad about this. She never would acknowledge that she, like most of the rest of the english speaking world, was saying it _right_ and that even she, in practice, knew that her supposedly preferred “t’ruck” pronunciation is _wrong_. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/97 "2005-12-12T19:02:17Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > My pet peeves lately are “added bonus” since you’d think a bonus is already added and “What I am saying is, is that …” or “The reason why is, is because…” GAAH!! I never heard that one before. I would have thought they were just pausing and repeating, though on the other hand, it does sound alot like a turn of phrase I often see while grading undergrad papers: “My point being is that…” As though there’s this thing called a “point being” that needs further explication. Have you ever seen “The reason why is, is because…” or anything like that in writing? -Kris ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/98 "2005-12-12T19:10:36Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > My pet peeves lately are “added bonus” since you’d think a bonus is already added No, no, it’s “added _extra_ bonus.” ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/99 "2005-12-12T20:58:06Z")
I say “we’ll burn that bridge when we come to it” now and then with the full knowledge that it’s a play on words, mixing two common phrases for a new meaning. Add me to the list of folks who want to kneecap those who say “supposably” and “new-kew-ler”. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867/100 "2005-12-12T21:33:06Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I usually go with “We’ll cross that bridge when we find it” from a song by Duran Duran. That’s just silly. High time is no time for deciding! :dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commonly-mangled-phrases-or-words/334867.md?page=6)