# Do you say "mid-drift"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 14, 2007, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001 "2007-05-14T05:15:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/21 "2007-05-14T17:32:41Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Uh oh. I don’t know what’s wrong with that. Help? [/QUOTE] _distain_ should be _disdain_. I’m not as bothered by typos like that - because anyone can mis-spell something when they’re in a hurry. For example, in a thread about running, the OP mentions his “heel” two or three times in his post and his “heal” once. It was obvious that it was a slip of the fingers. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/22 "2007-05-14T17:34:56Z")
[QUOTE=cher3] It’s disdain. But I think you all are just prejudice. [/QUOTE] Hmm…I’m sorry to axe so many questions, but I just don’t think that’s right. I think it’s an acceptable alternate spelling. From [thefreedictionary.com](http://thefreedictionary.com): > [@](#): > > Dis`tain´ > v. t. 1. To tinge with a different color from the natural or proper one; to stain; to discolor; to sully; to tarnish; to defile; - used chiefly in poetry. > [imp. & p. p. Distained ; p. pr. & vb. n. Distaining.] > [She] hath . . . distained her honorable blood. > > - Spenser. > The worthiness of praise distains his worth. > - Shak. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/23 "2007-05-14T17:36:00Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Hmm…I’m sorry to axe so many questions, but I just don’t think that’s right. I think it’s an acceptable alternate spelling. [/QUOTE] Isn’t that a hole different word? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/24 "2007-05-14T17:37:29Z")
[QUOTE=NinetyWt] Isn’t that a hole different word? [/QUOTE] Oh. Maybe? I’m all confuddled now. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/25 "2007-05-14T17:38:32Z")
They are different words with different definitions. Disdain means contempt or to treat with contempt. Distain is apparently an old word meaning “to stain or discolor.” ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/26 "2007-05-14T17:39:48Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Hmm…I’m sorry to axe so many questions, but I just don’t think that’s right. I think it’s an acceptable alternate spelling. From [thefreedictionary.com](http://thefreedictionary.com): [/QUOTE] That’s fine, except it’s not the same word. dis·dain –verb (used with object) 1. to look upon or treat with contempt; despise; scorn. 2. to think unworthy of notice, response, etc.; consider beneath oneself: to disdain replying to an insult. –noun 3. a feeling of contempt for anything regarded as unworthy; haughty contempt; scorn. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/27 "2007-05-14T17:42:25Z")
Thx! Ignorants fought! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/28 "2007-05-14T18:24:57Z")
[QUOTE=Auntbeast] One example is the word drawers. I even posted here once a link to I believe was from Target, where they were advertising an item that had “draws.” I keep seeing it, I keep hearing it and yet no part of my mind can make it ok. [/QUOTE] I thought maybe this was a New England thing. Norm Abram says it that way all the time on his furniture-making show. Apparently it’s drifted on south. Or there’s a lot of Norm Abram fans in Florida. But, yeah, I can’t really get my mind around it being pronounced that way either. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/29 "2007-05-14T19:55:44Z")
**Tikki** , do you remember a scene in _Grease_ when they’re singing Sandra Dee and there’s that line “Keep your filthy paws off my silky draws” sung in a horrible high-pitched voice? It gets pronounced that way in the south sometimes, too. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/30 "2007-05-14T20:04:29Z")
[QUOTE=Hilarity N. Suze] The one that gets me is “step foot,” as in, “I didn’t dare step foot in her room.” It used to be “set foot.” [/QUOTE] Not long ago, someone corrected me when I said “set foot.” This youngish person was so certain that the phrase was “step foot” that she interrupted me in order to tell me that I had misspoken. I’ve had problems in the past with “buck naked” (which people transform into “butt naked”) and with “home in on” (which some folks have turned into “hone in on”). Auggh. I hate being corrected when I’m not in the wrong. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/31 "2007-05-14T20:24:21Z")
Then there’s always the “mute point”. Aaaarrrrgh ! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/32 "2007-05-14T20:54:11Z")
I know someone who says “I’m scary” instead of “I’m scared.” It can be confusing. ---
**Author:** ![toadbriar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@toadbriar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadbriar)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/33 "2007-05-14T21:34:09Z")
What’s been bugging me lately is when someone mentions their ‘exercise regime’. [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) says it’s a valid use of the word, synonymous with ‘regimen’, but I invite [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) to piss up a rope. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/34 "2007-05-14T21:44:31Z")
[QUOTE=NinetyWt] Isn’t that a hole different word? [/QUOTE] It’s a whole nother thing. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/35 "2007-05-14T21:50:05Z")
[QUOTE=NinetyWt] Isn’t that a hole different word? [/QUOTE] It’s a whole nother thing. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/36 "2007-05-14T22:36:15Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Thx! Ignorants fought! 😃 [/QUOTE] I like this way of putting it! Death to the ignorants! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/37 "2007-05-15T00:58:24Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] It’s a whole nother thing. [/QUOTE] That’s going to be correct also someday, supposably. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/38 "2007-05-15T00:58:41Z")
[QUOTE=Auntbeast] One example is the word drawers. I even posted here once a link to I believe was from Target, where they were advertising an item that had “draws.” I keep seeing it, I keep hearing it and yet no part of my mind can make it ok. [/QUOTE] All my dressers have “draws” (actually, it’s probably more like “droors” now that I think about it) but I would never write it that way - it’s spelled d-r-a-w-e-r-s. I can’t pronounce it, but I can spell it! Regional pronunciations oughtn’t become their spellings. That’d fly in the face of what Webster tried to accomplish, wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/39 "2007-05-15T01:15:04Z")
In the South, they rarely “wish” for anything. They only do it in the past. “I wished it wasn’t so hot out right now.” I’ve seen it typed out that way. Maybe more wishes would be granted if the wishes were made in the here and now. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001/40 "2007-05-15T04:23:57Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] I know someone who says “I’m scary” instead of “I’m scared.” It can be confusing. [/QUOTE] Yes, that kind of misuse can be so addicting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-mid-drift/404001.md?page=3)