The English language can be tricky. It’s full of really weird phrases you’ve never seen written down but may have heard – or misheard, as the case may be.
Sometimes it’s just too awkward to correct someone who thinks they have a ‘tongue and cheek’ sense of humour and everyone is on ‘tender hooks’ whenever they tell a story.
Saying anything from this list is definitely a bit of a ‘foe par’, but hopefully you won’t find yourself becoming a ‘social leopard’…
- To be pacific (instead of to be specific)
- An escape goat (instead of a scapegoat)
- Damp squid (instead of damp squib)
- Nipped it in the butt (instead of nipped in the bud)
- On tender hooks (instead of on tenterhooks)
- Cold slaw (instead of coleslaw)
- A doggie-dog world (instead of dog-eat-dog world)
- Circus-sized (instead of circumcised)
- Lack toast and tolerant (instead of lactose intolerant)
- Got off scotch free (instead of got off scot-free)
- To all intensive purposes (instead of to all intents and purposes)
- Boo to a ghost (instead of boo to a goose)
- Card shark (instead of card sharp)
- Butt naked (instead of buck naked)
- Hunger pains (instead of hunger pangs)
- Tongue and cheek (instead of tongue-in-cheek)
- It’s a mute point (instead of moot point)
- Pass mustard (instead of pass muster)
- Just deserves (instead of just deserts)
- Foe par (instead of faux pas)
- Social leopard (instead of social leper)
- Biting my time (instead of biding my time)
- Curled up in the feeble position (instead of curled up in the foetal position)
- Curve your enthusiasm (instead of curb your enthusiasm)
- Heimlich remover (instead of Heimlich manoeuvre)
- Ex-patriot (instead of expatriate)
- Extract revenge (instead of exact revenge)
- Self-depreciating (instead of self-deprecating)
- As dust fell (instead of as dusk fell)
- Last stitch effort (instead of last ditch effort)
The above list comes from the results of a survey of 2,000 adults which was commissioned by Scrivens Opticians and Hearing Care.
Now to share your knowledge with the world…
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