Idioms, what do they mean?

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Originally Posted by Scriveyn

What irks me most is when people get the wording wrong, like writing "baited breath" - double helping of egg

Productive of a good quip though: ...waiting with worms in our mouths!


Edwin Newman's Strictly Speaking, while dated, is still a pretty good primer on avoiding malapropisms, the occasional mondegreen, and stylistic infelicity.

There are numerous people who could really use a better grasp of when to say principle or principal.

A good many errors of that kind seem to arrive through the ear, rather than from the page.