I just had an email from a posh wine merchant which assured me that they were waiting with 'abated' breath for the release of the 2009 Bordeaux.
You peasants, I thought, if your breath really had 'abated' then we pedants would have nothing more to worry about. (And while we're at it, it's not 'baited' either, morons.)
But then it occurred to me to wonder what the origin of 'bated' was and it turns out that it is a shortened form of abated.
Funny old world...