Malapropisms, love 'em or hate 'em

[Louanne Learning]

mostly say hooray for our side

I was today years old when I found out this is not what he was singing!

 

[Rath Darkblade]

what does "Chomping" mean?

"Chomping" is a syllable for "biting or chewing food noisily".

So yes, theoretically a horse might chew its bit (which is a metal, synthetic, or leather mouthpiece attached to a bridle, placed in the horse's mouth), but it'd probably hurt itself if it did.

And ... not a malapropism, but here's a limerick I wrote earlier:

A hack writer thought "I'm the Bard!"
and proceeded to write drivel, marred
by anachronisms
and malapropisms --
He didn't know writing was hard!

 

[Also]

And "chomp down."

 

[CatrionaGrace]

We are the chompians, we are the chompians...

 

[JLT]

I'm about ready to give up on "free reign." I've heard it so much now, in place of "free rein," that I consider the battle over, except for a few skirmishes along the border.

 

[Also]

I'm about ready to give up on "free reign." I've heard it so much now, in place of "free rein," that I consider the battle over, except for a few skirmishes along the border.

My first source on language devolution is always Garner. He's less pessimistic about free rein than you are:


I often liken his 5 stages of usage change to oncologists' 4 stages of cancer.

 

[Also]

One of my pets is people writing "tow the line" instead of "toe the line"

 

[Stuart Dren]

Teacher:
If you go down to the woods today
you better go in disguise
Now children, what does disguise mean?

4-year-old me:
like in an aeroplane or helicopter or somethin'

Damn that's good. It's innocent, yet a brilliant joke in retrospect.

I don't know if this counts, but in my STEM program the teach asked: "Can anyone give an example of a serial dilution?"

To which a girl answered, with almost no hesitation, "Milk."

She meant it earnestly (hearing cereal), which made it even more lovely.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

One of my pets is people writing "tow the line" instead of "toe the line"

I suppose you could tow a fishing line. But that's not what the idiom is about, obviously.

 

[Also]

I suppose you could tow a fishing line. But that's not what the idiom is about, obviously.

I gather they're thinking of pulling barge lines along a canal path. It's often about "towing the company line."

 

[Rath Darkblade]

I gather they're thinking of pulling barge lines along a canal path. It's often about "towing the company line."

Uh. Unless the "company line" is a fishing line or barge line, it's impossible to tow it.

A company car, on the other hand...

 

[Also]

Uh. Unless the "company line" is a fishing line or barge line, it's impossible to tow it.

A company car, on the other hand...

You're preaching to the choir, Brother Rath.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

Went for a walk today with a friend who is a retired English professor. Word usage, including malapropisms, came up. She mentioned a student who gave a presentation on Our Friend the Octopus. In the process, he refered to octopus testicles instead of tentacles.