# Free rein or free reign? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 16, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390 "2010-12-16T18:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/1 "2010-12-16T18:21:00Z")
A tangent to [THIS](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=589501) thread about freedom of pets in houses. I saw both phrases, and was curious (and bored). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/2 "2010-12-16T18:25:03Z")
Free rein, as in “I took the carriage to the general store yesterday and gave the horse free rein, and she she delivered me…straight to Slippery Sally’s Saloon.” ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/3 "2010-12-16T18:27:13Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Free rein, as in “I took the carriage to the general store yesterday and gave the horse free rein, and she she delivered me…straight to Slippery Sally’s Saloon.” I wish when I gave my car free **rein** it would take me to a saloon. Mine takes me to work. ☹ (That’s what I call it when I space out and drive without thinking about where I am going. Also known as auto pilot.) ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/4 "2010-12-16T18:28:57Z")
I vote for “free reign” but so far it’s only me. A google search for “free rein” gets 808,000 results. “Free reign” gets 570,000. So I’m in the minority, but not entirely alone. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/5 "2010-12-16T18:41:57Z")
I’ve always understood it as “free rein,” with the analogy of letting the horse go where it will and not guiding it with the reins… ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/6 "2010-12-16T19:19:54Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I’ve always understood it as “free rein,” with the analogy of letting the horse go where it will and not guiding it with the reins.. You could tie the team’s reins loosly and just let the horses find the way home and you would wake up when they got there. The horses would find the way and so you have given them “free rein”. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/7 "2010-12-16T19:21:34Z")
I think of it as “free rein,” as in horses, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/8 "2010-12-16T19:22:27Z")
This poll leaves out the option of “free rain” If you want some, I’ve had plenty. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/9 "2010-12-16T19:28:25Z")
Yeah, free rain. That’s it kind of like Purple Rain, Purple Rain except it doesn’t cost any money. Free Bird! Rock on. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/10 "2010-12-16T19:30:29Z")
570,000 people on the Internet CAN be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/11 "2010-12-16T19:31:44Z")
Never thought about it before, but I’d say “free rein” for the dog as in “dog unleashed” and “free reign” for the cat who lords over us whether we like it or not. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/12 "2010-12-16T19:32:14Z")
Rein. Horses. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/13 "2010-12-16T19:32:59Z")
It is absolutely and without a doubt “free rein”. The increasing use of “free reign” drives me nuts and I bitch about it regularly. **Dallas Jones** , don’t you dare get that started. I will gnaw on your skull!! ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/14 "2010-12-16T19:54:26Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > It is absolutely and without a doubt “free rein”. > > The increasing use of “free reign” drives me nuts and I bitch about it regularly. That’s pretty much where I am with it, but I figured that before I got my knickers in a knot I’d see if it was a regionalism or something that I hadn’t come across before. There are quite a few "reign"s in the original thread. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/15 "2010-12-16T20:05:30Z")
Free reign on a project which means I have total control over it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/16 "2010-12-16T20:09:51Z")
Are we actually voting on reality now? It is “free rein”, and if this didn’t have a poll attached I would move it to General Questions, since it has a factual answer. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/17 "2010-12-16T20:15:24Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Are we actually voting on reality now? > It is “free rein”, and if this didn’t have a poll attached I would move it to General Questions, since it has a factual answer. indeed it does. **n. Unlimited freedom to act or make decisions: gave me free rein to reorganize the department**. I guess my version would be paid reign. ---
**Author:** ![Proudest\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/proudest_monkey/32/13257_2.png) [@Proudest\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Proudest_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/18 "2010-12-17T00:43:31Z")
I voted “free rein” but I can understand the argument for the other option. Unlike the **" . . . you have another think/thing coming"** debate. Which very obviously has people confused as to the true intent and meaning of the phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/19 "2010-12-17T00:46:13Z")
…I’ve never actually thought about it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390/20 "2010-12-17T01:59:17Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > I wish when I gave my car free **rein** it would take me to a saloon. Have you tried cruise control? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-rein-or-free-reign/564390.md?page=2)