And, as long as I’m being a language elitist…

June 2nd, 2008

…the phrase is:

“let’s flesh this out” not “let’s flush this out.”

“Flesh it out” means to add substance to the skeleton of an idea.

“Flush it out” means to expel something through a toilet’s plumbing.

I will now sit in a corner and dwell on the difference between “its” and “it’s.”

Entry Filed under: Observations

11 Comments Add your own

  • 1. grumps  |  June 2nd, 2008 at 11:16 am

    Give me a shout when you get to “less” v “fewer.” I’ll join you on the chorus.

  • 2. tee bee  |  June 2nd, 2008 at 4:10 pm

    Good luck focusing in on that.

  • 3. Brad V  |  June 2nd, 2008 at 6:55 pm

    Nice

  • 4. BobG  |  June 2nd, 2008 at 7:42 pm

    These examples may help:

    It’s a matter of punctuation.”

    “What is its name?”

    “And then I ‘its him with a bottle,” said the Cockney.

  • 5. capper  |  June 2nd, 2008 at 9:16 pm

    My peeve is seasoned salt. Isn’t that a redundancy?

  • 6. David Casper  |  June 3rd, 2008 at 6:46 am

    Asterisk vs. Asterick.

    The one time I watched Everybody Loves Raymond*, his wife had to point out to him that he always said “asterick” instead of “asterisk.” Ever since then, whenever I start to say the word, I think about it too much and either say “asterick,” or, say it the right way and look around the room at people’s reactions wondering if it came out the way I intended.

    *I hate Raymond. Just to be clear.

  • 7. chris  |  June 3rd, 2008 at 6:57 am

    Where do you weigh in on the joolery vs. jewelry? That one always drives me nuts.

  • 8. Fuzz Martin  |  June 3rd, 2008 at 7:38 am

    The ones that ALWAYS get me are, “eXspecially,” “suh-prise,” and “a hunert (meaning one hundred).”

  • 9. grumps  |  June 3rd, 2008 at 9:24 am

    Ree-la-tor, lay/lie, Ellinois. We could go on.

  • 10. Wendy  |  June 3rd, 2008 at 10:42 am

    The Ree-la-tor thing drives me nuts, too, eXspecially when Realtors are the people who say it.

  • 11. tee bee  |  June 4th, 2008 at 11:20 am

    Sounds like y’all are aboot to go nucyooler.

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