10 Common Phrases Writers & Other People Constantly Get Wrong

And, yeppers, we mean constantly. Here’s a quick guide to cleaning up our acts, from Sarah Showfety and Lifehacker.Com.

by Sarah Showfety

English is a tricky language. Our “ph” sounds like “f” and our idioms often make zero sense. (The cat’s out of the bag? Who was keeping a cat in the bag?)

Similarly, there are many common English expressions that people use all time time—and incorrectly. Whether you fancy yourself a bit of a wordsmith or you’re not sure what “shoo-in” even means, chances are you’ve said some of these common phrases wrong and never knew it.

According to Merriam-Webster, these mistaken formations of phrases that sound correct but aren’t are called… eggcorns! (Even more awesomely, “eggcorn” only entered our lexicon at all after enough people misheard and mispronounced “acorn.”)

Here’s a look at the most common phrases you may be botching—and what to say instead….

Read it all and watch the informative – really – at lifehacker.com

Author: LB

A legendary figure in the television writing and production world with a career going back to the late ’60s, Larry Brody has written and produced hundreds of hours of American and worldwide television and is a consultant to production companies and networks in the U.S. and abroad . Shows written or produced by Brody have won several awards including - yes, it's true - Emmys, Writers Guild Awards, and the Humanitas Award.