To wonder what mental image people have for 'towing the line'...

[LaFlambeau]

When the correct expression is 'toeing the line'?

[WandaFuca]

diddl - from my long experience on the internet, and back when most of the chat was dominated by USians, I think it started off as a mishearing, where first the /t/ sound dropped to a /d/ sound, and then the /n/ sound disappeared as kind of background noise.

As an analogy: there's someone on another forum who says she's been repeatedly told that she mistakenly types "then" instead of "than", but her response is that's the accent in her part of the USA. I have read (though it might be an urban legend) that in some US accents, people always append "horse" or similar to "riding", to distinguish from "writing", because the /t/ has in some places changed to a /d/.

[EleanorAbernathy]

The other day a work colleague had written something about a gentleman who had "Ashburgers Syndrome".

[diddl]

Talking to myself here, but I wonder if it's out of context.

You could say " I couldn't care less" or "if you think I could care (any) less..."

I love "proper gander".

Makes me think of this

[diddl]

OK

Absolutely about could care less.

Can anyone make sense of that?

[WandaFuca]

I think ConstableOdo was joking - making up words/facts. Except for the last one - I have to avert my eyes when I read "could care less".

Glad you understood what I was getting at, Garlic. I did have trouble explaining it; but, in hindsight, I could have just referred to those adverts comparing two similar foods/drinks, one being a branded item, the other being the supermarket's own cheaper item, and added the tagline that said food/drink is still shite whatever you pay for it.

[diddl]

What are ptun and clannicle?

I keep thinking of punt and coracle!

[GarlicJulyKit]

I definitely thought the same as Wanda about 'cheap at half the price', which makes it clever rather than daft.

Am I the only one who has to ask: WTF??
1. People who say "ptun" when they mean "clannicle"

Even Google doesn't know what those two words are.

[GoringBit]

P.S. My posts here (from my phone)!shouldn't be taken as a sign of my eye for detail or lack of it.

[GoringBit]

LisaMed I've read a few e-books that have clearly not been proof-read or edited. I think it's great that writers can get their work out, some errors (or too many of then) really detract from my reading experience.

Anyway, I'm generally good with proof-reading (though stuff like split infinitives and passive whatever's whoosh over my head), so if you'd ever like a (friendly) critical look at your work, let me know.

[diddl]

Pied a terre!
:-)

[alAswad]

I've been mumbling "Pierre du Terre" over and over under my breath and I can't work out what it's supposed to be - can someone please put me out of my misery?!

[SistersOfPercy]

Timothy Claypole was my first crush

Mine too , well, him and Jason from Battle of the Planets but he doesn't count as he was a cartoon. DH had a crush on Miss Popoff. Every time I see Audrey on Coronation Street I wind him up about it hehe

[Bogeyface]

On another thread something is apparently a mute point. I wanted to ask if that meant that we weren't allowed to talk about it, but I didnt!

Not quite the same but when mum worked at the library and in the pre internet days, a school aged lad came in and asked if they had any books about copper knickers. Took her ages to figure out that a) he hadnt been listening in class because b) he meant Copernicus! :o

[phantomnamechanger]

@ jester of goodwill....and Timothy Claypole was my first crush!!

LisaMed and others who have trouble spelling the correct version of dire rear
Diarrhoea
Is
Awful
Really
Runny
Hurry
Or
Else
Accident

is how I remember it

[SistersOfPercy]

A few years ago someone posted on the MSE forums they had been offered a 'Jester of Goodwill'.

For days I was chuckling to myself at a vision of a Timothy Claypole esque Jester knocking on the door, waving his bell stick (a Marotte apparently) shouting "taaa daaa"

Still makes me smile now.

[unrealhousewife]

Is pedantry even a word?

[unrealhousewife]

Didn't know about faze. Never tend to use the expression but I will now. It seemed awkward to me to use it because I couldn't connect the meaning of phases with faze so I didn't feel comfortable using it. I must have internalised pedantry.

[FriendlyLadybird]

A teacher once told me of a pupil who had written an essay, in all seriousness, about Hitler's use of proper gander.

Presumably he had a really good look at everything.

[SweetFelicityArkwright]

One that I notice a lot is phase being used instead of faze, as in ' It didn't phase me' when it should be 'It didn't faze me '.

Another one I see so often, even in dictionary definitions of the word, is the word anathema being used without 'an' in front of it e.g. 'It was anathema to him' rather than 'It was an anathema to him' as anathema is a noun. It is so common that I wonder if I am wrong or it can be used either way.

[PetulaGordino]

There are usually a number of explanations for idiomatic phrases, and it's hard to pinpoint any of them as the definitive one.

I have to say that my visualisation of "toe the line" is not related to any of the explanations, it's just something I dreamed up in my head - I see someone walking along a straight line like if a policeman in the USA suspected they were drink driving, so they're trying to follow the designated line and not deviate from it

[unrealhousewife]

So I was led to believe it's related to having a line on your toe so you are ready when the fish bites so you were forced to sit still and be quiet.

My Dad told me this and he was very well educated a long time ago, although in another country. I think he was having me on.

The other explanations make far more sense.

[unrealhousewife]

I don't know Nigella I'm going to have to look it up, you've got me thinking it's plimsoll line related now.

[NigellasDealer]

my image is a line painted on board a ship with a row of people pointing their toes towards it. is that correct?

[LisaMed]

I use 'dire rear' as I can't spell the correct version for love nor money.

I have self published an e-book. I would actually be grateful for corrections, though I did my best. I couldn't afford an editor. However when you read an e-book that is self published then you have to understand there has been absolutely no-one checking the copy. You could self publish a shopping list if you wanted. In fact it's only a matter of time, given some of the threads on chat. I hope it will be properly punctuated.

And I have been so self conscious typing this post. Didn't a previous thread mention Mruphy's Law where it is absolutely guaranteed that if you post complaining about grammatical errors you always include at least one in your own post?

[unrealhousewife]

Ok just read first post. Top marks I guess.