less vs fewer
Less- only used when you are talking about something that is not quantifiable (can not be counted or measured).
There is less water in your glass.
There is less snow on the ground now that the sun has come out.
Fewer- used for anything that is quatifiable (can be counted or measured)
She has fewer items in her cart.
We had fewer inches of snow this year than last year.
* More often than not you actually want to use “fewer” not “less”.
rule of thumb
rule of thumb- a general guideline that isn’t always accurate in every situation
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The earliest citation comes from Sir William Hope’s The Compleat Fencing-Master, 1692: “What he doth, he doth by rule of thumb, and not by art.”
There are two predominate thoughts as to its origins.
1. It was (and still is) not uncommon to use your thumb as a tool to measure thing (as the thumb is approximately 1 inch) wood workers and farmers most notably would use their thumbs to for measurements
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plants need a fairly precise depth to seed properly, depth can sometimes be estimated using the thumb
2. It is also claimed that the term originally referred to a law that limited the maximum thickness of a stick with which it was permissible for a man to beat his wife. British common law before the reign of Charles II permitted a man to give his wife “moderate correction”, but no “rule of thumb” (whether called by this name or not) has ever been the law in England.Such “moderate correction” specifically excluded beatings, only allowing the husband to confine a wife to the household. – Wikipedia
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Nonetheless, belief in the existence of a “rule of thumb” law to excuse spousal abuse can be traced as far back as 1782, the year that James Gillray published his satirical cartoon Judge Thumb. The cartoon lambastes Sir Francis Buller, a British judge, for allegedly ruling that a man may legally beat his wife, provided that he used a stick no thicker than his thumb, although it is questionable whether Buller ever made such a pronouncement (poor record-keeping for trial transcripts in that era make it difficult to determine whether such a ruling may have existed). The Body of Liberties adopted in 1641 by the Massachusetts Bay colonists states, “Every married woman shall be free from bodily correction or stripes by her husband, unless it be in his own defense from her assault.”[10] In the United States, legal decisions in Mississippi (1824) and North Carolina (1868 and 1874) make reference to—and reject—an unnamed “old doctrine” or “ancient law” by which a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no wider than his thumb. -Wikipedia
According to Gary Martin, “The origin of the phrase remains unknown. It is likely that it refers to one of the numerous ways that thumbs have been used to estimate things—judging the alignment or distance of an object by holding the thumb in one’s eye-line, the temperature of brews of beer, measurement of an inch from the joint to the nail to the tip, or across the thumb, etc. The phrase joins the whole nine yards as one that probably derives from some form of measurement but which is unlikely ever to be definitively pinned down.”
its vs it’s
Its-when something belongs to “it”
Its claws are sharp.
Where is its remote control?
It’s-ONLY used in place of “It is”.
It’s time- It is time.
Call me when it’s going to start.
If you get stuck trying replacing it’s with “it is” and see if it makes sense. If not use, its.
This confuses people because we are taught that you use an apostrophe when showing ownership but in this case that rule doesn’t apply.
Knock your socks off
knock your socks off- to amaze or impress
There doesn’t seem to be a general consensus on this one. But the most common explanation (albeit slightly bizarre and a bit of a stretch) that I found is from the 1940′s vintage porn era.
“Most adult films from that period were commonly known as “Smokers” and were generally silent home-type movies usually shown at bachelor’s parties, etc. At that time (and even now?) it was easier to cast women’s roles in adult films than it was to find willing men. Men were difficult to cast because they were generally camera shy. When appearing on camera, the men would routinely wear sunglasses to disguise their looks; and for some odd reason they wanted to also wear their (typically) dark colored socks.
(If you’ve ever seen any of these movies, you may have wondered about this behavior – this is the reason.)
Anyway, since it was very difficult to talk any of the men working in “Smokers” out of wearing their ridiculous “disguises”, especially their socks, it was eventually said that if one of these adult movies was especially provocative, or “hot”, it was said (more-or-less as a joke) to have the power to “knock your socks off”.
This arcane phrase that was once an “insider’s” term from the porn industry, has been adopted by mainstream America to mean just about anything that is impressive in nature.” – TLW, Answerbag.com
I am not sure if this is the true origin of this phrase but it is the answer I found most often in my research so there it is.
Soup to Nuts
soup to nuts- meaning “from beginning to end” refers to a full 21-course meal beginning with soup and ending with nuts for dessert.
This may seem obvious to most people but I had to research it because I have never heard of nuts for dessert. I also never knew what a 21-course meal would entail. I found it very enlightening.
Emancipated vs emaciated
emancipated- freed from bondage, slavery or boundaries
Moses emancipated the slaves from Egypt.
emaciated- abnormally thin, wasting away
Everyone in Hollywood looks emaciated.
* I was prompted to post this after hearing a television host refer to a movie star as being, “so thin these days. I just can’t believe how emancipated she is.”
Grasping at straws
grasping at straws is widely understood to mean “one last desperate attempt to save oneself”
In it’s original form it is actually referring to a drowning man grasping for even the “straws” (what we would maybe call “reeds”) along the side of a river or body of water to try to keep from drowning.
I was very surprised to find two much older references to this term than I would have expected.
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Samuel Richardson in his novel Clarissa (1748): “A drowning man will catch at a straw”
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Thomas More in Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation (1534) is the earliest known use
Ringleader
ringleader- one who leads others, often in reference to unlawful activity or misbehaving
In the 1593 edition of Hollyband’s Dictionary it defines the term as the person who leads a dance or ball.
This is from a time when the dancing at balls usually began with the men and women forming one or two circles (one inside the other) not unlike a western barn dance, sometimes called a round dance.
This is before the more recognized two lines.
* When I began my research into this I was pretty certain I was going to confirm my suspicions that this originated from the circus. I assumed that this was in reference to the Master of Ceremonies who literally stood in a “ring” (think three-ring circus) and lead the other performers. I was surprised to find that in fact this term goes back much earlier in history.
Tantamount vs paramount
tantamount- equal, in value, force or effect; the same as
Swimming in that river is tantamount to rubbing disease all over your body.
paramount- most important, highest rank or priority
This discovery is of paramount importance in study of Astrophysics.
I couldn’t care less vs I could care less
I am not sure why this seems to trip people up so often. If people would think about what they are saying there should be no reason so many people say this wrong.
This is supposed to mean that you don’t care at all, you care so little about it already that you couldn’t possibly care any less.
So it is: “I couldn’t care less”- I care so little I couldn’t possibly care any less.
If it was “I could care less” that would imply that you already have some measure of caring.
In order to care less you have to have some level of caring right now which is not in the spirit of the meaning of this idiom.
* Just stop and think a second before you speak and it will go a long way to preventing you from sounding like an idiot.
