To tell you that it's "rein" not "reign".

[FlyingElbows]

Because it is and it's doing my tits in!!

Rein. Rein. Rein. Rein. Rein.

Free rein. It's an equestrian term meaning to give the horse freedom of movement.

It is NOT reign. That's what the Queen does.

It's right up there with "intensive purposes" and "doggy dog world"!!

Abraiid, not Abroad! Damn you, autocorrect.

It is 'didn't use to', 5to2.

You wouldn't say I didn't used to managed my team well, or I didn't used to washed my hands, would you?

It takes an infinitive. Ideally you would rephrase as 'I used not to manage/cook, etc, though.

This British Council link explains.

learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/quick-grammar/used-infinitive-and-beget-used

toomuch, this rant is doing me good!

"Didn't used to" is a Nottingham/Midlands variant of "Used not to" I think.

See, the point is, the more the wrong words/spellings do the rounds without challenge in this age of mass communication, the more entrenched they become. Sometimes it doesn't matter too much, I suppose, but it's a pity if perfectly good phrases get perverted out of all meaning and sense. It doesn't help people with dyslexia or whose first language is not English to have all sorts of illogical versions of stuff adding to confusion and the amount they have to memorise. There should be no shame attached to getting it wrong, though (except for those posters who snottily correct someone else and make a mistake themselves, of course - no mercy on them).

someonestolemynick The correct phrase is DAMP SQUIB. Not squid. And yes, the fireworks connection is correct, but you could use it in relation to other things that didn't go as well as expected.

[wink

Oh bugger

What on earth is "samo samo"? Is it "same old, same old"? My only other guess is something to do with Zammo off of Grange Hill!

Which is fine in speech, and you can hardly hear the difference, to be honest. Furry.

These are squibs. They don't work if wet.

I'm a language pedant and I did not know this, so thanks, OP!

I don't think I've ever actually written it down, but I would have assumed it was free reign - I mean, it actually makes sense! And to somebody who doesn't know horses especially, it seems to make more sense than free rein!

Correct OP.

Always makes me think of Sumo wrestlers though which is quite distracting.

ANGLE , , for Angel ! That one really grates on me

I know, how obtuse can you get?

It's an acute problem!

Gasp0de - hahaha

Free reign is a tricky one to be fair. Both are logical depending on how you come at the phrase.

I find it fascinating that people have heard dog eat dog world, misheard it as doggy dog world and STILL understand the meaning of it! Isn't that amazing? (Genuinely, I'm not jeering.) Fantastic how we humans can work out a metaphor from something that we're hearing as garbled nonsense really. I'd have to say a person who works that out is pretty smart.

I'm an ex English teacher and proofreader and I usually keep my mouth shut as I know that I still make mistakes myself :)

I started to go ... I didn't start to go (not I didn't started to go)
I wanted to go ... I didn't want to go (not I didn't wanted to go)
I liked to go ... I didn't like to go (not I didn't liked to go)
I used to go ... I didn't use to go (not I didn't used to go)

The problem with the last one is that the "t" sound at the end of "used" blends in with the "t" sound at the start of "to" so "use to" and "used to" sound exactly the same.

My favourite is 'Eh Wallah!'.

I saw it first on here, thought it was a joke and no one really would use that phrase without checking to see how it was written. And Lo! It popped up on comments on a friend's FB post. I felt a small spark of pure joy at the sight.

OP, but WHY are you not putting this in Pedants Corner? Are you a bit needy? Desperate for the traffic? I know it's not specifically about a poster on a thread (in which case you'd be toasted) but why here?

... and no, posters don't 'need telling'. They really don't.

Ooh, my people. I have found you.

Here's another one: 'playing' on my mind, rather than 'preying'. Irritating, but not correctable without looking like a petty arsehole, especially as 'playing' makes sense.

Ditto 'I was sat/stood', and the good old 'could of', 'would of'...

The best one I've heard was that too much sugar can give you 'die of beaties'....

Them beaties are evil.

The reason why so many people get "use to" wrong is because, by definition, we only see it in the past so people assume that's the base form. We don't do it with other verbs because we see them in their other forms frequently, so our brains don't get confused.

Those bastard beaties.

The one that gets me is people are are "loosing weight" and wanting to "loose weight". Drives me crazy just typing it!

You loosen your belt and then it is loose, or at least a bit looser.

You LOSE weight. Your bullying ex is a loser.

I'm going off to take a few deep, calming breaths now :)

(oh. and another one: "... and breath" --> breathe!).

Anniegetyourgun I agree. There's a sentence structure I keep hearing on American television and films that REALLY makes me cringe. It's becoming more and more ubiquitous and normal in the US, and I know how much us Brits love to appropriate US culture, so I'm worried about it catching on here. It needs to be nipped in the bud!

And it is....

"If I would have" instead of "if I had" - ARGH!! How horrible is that??

"If I would have known you were coming..."
"If you would have called me first..."