An idiom is a phrase that fluent speakers generally understand and that would not make sense if you looked at its component parts. For example, what does it mean to say, “It’s raining cats and dogs”? We’re not feeling fur fall from the sky, but we know what the phrase means. Most of us use idioms all the time, and most of the time, we get them right.
Except when we don’t.
We hear someone else speak the phrase and our brains noodle over (notice the idiom?) the meaning and try to make sense of it. However, this process of understanding is imperfect. Consequently, people often scatter misused idioms blithely in their writing and speaking, much to the amusement of those who know the correct usage.
No one wants to be the one who uses the wrong idiom and becomes a laughingstock. Here are a few commonly misunderstood idioms along with their correct usage and meaning.
You can thank me later.
Nip it in the butt/Nip it in the bud
The concept here is to catch something before it develops into a full-blown problem, that is, to “nip it” while it’s still a bud, not a flower. Leave nipping it in the butt to Rottweilers.
Coming down the pipe/Coming down the pike
While plumbers may see things coming down the pipe, the rest of us see things coming down the pike. In this case, pike is short for turnpike. So the phrase means coming down the road, or coming around the bend. Do you really want to see things coming down the pipe?
Taking a new tact/Taking a new tack
Tact is discretion or sensitivity to others’ feelings. So perhaps taking a new tact might refer to becoming discreet after being insensitive. But I don’t think this is what people mean when they use it. Tack isa sailing term referring to changing direction. Taking a new tack means changing strategy or direction.
Flush it out/Flesh it out
“Flesh it out” comes from animation. Artists sketched the outline of their characters and then fleshed them out to make them look realistic. What exactly are people thinking when they write “flush it out”? Could this be related to coming down the pipe?
Mute point vs. moot point
Mute means silent. Moot means either subject to debate or irrelevant. A mute point is a silent one. A moot point is one that is irrelevant to the discussion.
For all intensive purposes vs. For all intents and purposes
I think this misunderstanding just comes from people not articulating the words. But seriously, folks, doesn’t it make more sense the correct way? What is an intensive purpose, anyway?
Pour over the details vs. pore over the details
This is another one that’s hard to explain. How would one “pour” over details? Perhaps you have a bowl full of details and you want to pour milk all over them. To pore means to read carefully.
How Does This Happen?
When we rush to write, it is easy to mix up these idioms because they sound so similar. Nevertheless, the winners in the communication game are those who know what they mean to say and say it correctly. And really, for all intents and purposes, isn’t communication our goal?
PS: If you hear someone using another idiom idiotically, please send me a note without mentioning the person’s name. I’m always adding to my collection.