Sliver/slither confusion - aarrgghh!

[MrsBumblebee]

Sorry, I'm fairly new to pedants' corner, so this one may have been done to death, but it drives me mad! As in: 'Would you like any cake?' 'Oh, just a slither'. Is it just me, or does everyone seem to be saying it these days? I had to come on and rant, because my mother (who taught me much of my pedantry ) has just said it. I shrieked in outrage, and she claimed to be joking .

Slither is what snakes do, surely?

LOL at her claiming to be joking! My mum often makes spelling mistakes on letters (to/too etc) and then, when I point them out to her, she says she was 'just testing'

Agree that it is very annoying. I guess people think that 'sliver' is people mispronouncing 'slither' - in a 'bovvered' kind of way.

The correct answer is, of course, "Yes please, a large piece"

I wouldn't want any cake that slithered. Ew, sounds slimy.

Good point, Tigerschick. I hadn't thought of that possibility.

sliver - a narrow slice
slither - is what snakey slimy men do
silver - a precious metal
slather - what you do with cream on top of said cake

Did your face look bovvered when she said it?

Another weird confusion is flaunt/flout, as in 'He flaunted the health & safety regulations.'

lol at flaunting!

Yup, hate that one too, Threadworm.

LOL at flaunting H&S regulations
I'll have to listen out for that one!

Slither - what a snake does
Sliver - very thin slice

Confusion = a dawn flogging.

DH always says "slither" when he means "sliver". Whenever I have tried to correct him, his reply has been that I know what he means and that's all that matters...arghh!

JJ, of course you could point out to him that, while YOU might know what he means, someone else might not and that could have awful consequences!

Suppose he wrote it as "slither"...

A sliver of slimy liver,
raw,
slithered off the plate
and onto the
floor.

Yuck...