Misused idioms and phrases

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An idiom is a phrase whose meaning you can't work out from its parts. Nip in the bud made obvious sense to a 17th-century gardener; today many people have never pinched a bud off a plant. When the original image fades, speakers reconstruct the phrase from what it sounds like, and new versions appear: nip it in the butt, for all intensive purposes, tow the line.

Linguists call a mishearing that still seems to make sense an eggcorn. According to Wikipedia, the term was coined by Geoffrey Pullum in September 2003 on the Language Log blog, after Mark Liberman discussed a woman who wrote "egg corn" for "acorn." Many entries on this page are eggcorns. A few others are not mishearings at all, but meanings that shifted and are now accepted.

Quick reference#

The eggcorn pairs in this table (free rein, bated breath, sneak peek, deep-seated, just deserts, shoo-in, beck and call) are all listed in Wikipedia's eggcorn article.

The big five, explained#

For all intents and purposes#

The phrase means "in every practical sense." The Phrase Finder traces it to an Act of Parliament under Henry VIII in 1546, which used the longer formula to all intents, constructions and purposes; some references date the act to 1547. Grammarly notes the shortened version eventually overtook the original. Intensive purposes is what the phrase sounds like when said quickly.

Couldn't care less#

If you couldn't care less, your caring is already at zero. If you could care less, you care at least a little, which is the opposite of what people mean. Grammarphobia found couldn't care less in a Kansas City Star story from January 1942 and could care less in the Ottawa Evening Citizen in July 1948, earlier than the 1966 citation in the Oxford English Dictionary, which labels the shorter form a US colloquialism. Some linguists read could care less as sarcastic. Merriam-Webster treats both as meaning the same thing. In writing, the negative form avoids a fight.

Begs the question#

In logic, to beg the question is to assume your conclusion in your premise. The American Heritage Dictionary's example: claiming caviar tastes better than peanut butter because caviar has a superior flavor. Since at least the early 1900s, the phrase has also meant "raises the question." The dictionary says this sense has "nearly displaced the original sense in everyday usage," but in its 2013 survey only slim majorities of the Usage Panel (55 and 58 percent) accepted example sentences using it. If your readers include philosophers or lawyers, write raises the question. The logical sense is covered in our guide to logical fallacies and in Wikipedia's article on begging the question.

Irregardless#

The American Heritage usage note is unusually direct. Irregardless was coined in the US in the early 1900s, "presumably from a blend of irrespective and regardless." Since people use it, "it is undoubtedly a word in the broader sense," but it has never been accepted in Standard English and copyeditors virtually always change it. In 2012, 90 percent of the Usage Panel rejected a sentence using it.

Literally#

Using literally to mean "virtually" ("I literally died laughing") is not a modern decline. Citing the Oxford English Dictionary, Grammarphobia dates the hyperbolic sense to at least 1769 and lists Mark Twain, James Joyce and F. Scott Fitzgerald among writers who used it. Merriam-Webster explains that it keeps the sense because its entries are based on evidence of use. Most dictionaries label it informal, and Grammarphobia reports that the American Heritage Usage Panel objected when last surveyed, so keep it out of formal writing.

More phrases worth getting right#

Nip it in the bud#

To stop something early, the way a gardener pinches off a bud before it flowers. The Phrase Finder finds an earlier form, "nip thy affections in the bloome," in 1595, and the "bud" version in Beaumont and Fletcher's The Woman Hater (1607).

Toe the line#

To conform, as runners put their toes against a starting mark. The Phrase Finder cites "toe the mark" from 1813 and "toe the line" in print by 1831, and suggests the tow spelling is encouraged by nautical tow lines.

Case in point#

A relevant example. Vocabulary.com says the idiom began in the courtroom in the mid-1600s, where a case in point was a previous case similar to the one being tried. In point is a fossil phrase, which is why people hear "case and point."

Home in on#

The American Heritage note at "hone" traces home in on to homing pigeons and World War II radar; the figurative sense dates to the 1950s, and hone in on appeared about a decade later. It is common but often viewed as a mistake: in 2015, 36 to 40 percent of the Usage Panel rejected example sentences. Zero in on sidesteps the question.

Champing at the bit#

Historically horses champed at the bit, but according to the American Heritage Dictionary, chomp became popular in the mid-1900s, is now the more common form, and both were broadly accepted by its Usage Panel in 2015 (70 percent for champ, 77 percent for chomp). This is one "correction" you can stop making.

Words whose meanings shifted#

Some complaints are about meaning rather than form. The American Heritage Dictionary tracks several:

• Moot. Originally a legal term meaning "debatable." Since the mid-1800s it has also meant "irrelevant," a sense 83 percent of the Usage Panel accepted in 2008 (AHD). Make sure context shows which one you mean.
• Decimate. Originally the Roman army's punishment of killing every tenth soldier. Extending it to "kill a large proportion" was accepted by 81 percent of the Panel in 2005; extending it to non-lethal destruction was accepted by only 36 percent (AHD).
• Ironic. Irony is an incongruity between what is expected and what happens. Using it for mere coincidence still draws objection: 63 percent of the Panel rejected such an example in 2016 (AHD).
• Peruse. Long meant "read thoroughly." Using it to mean "skim" was rejected by 48 percent of the Panel in 2011, down from 66 percent in 1988 (AHD). Using it for shops is still often considered a mistake.

For single words that get swapped, see commonly confused words; for the sentence-level rules behind several of these debates, see common grammar mistakes.

Frequently asked questions

Is it 'for all intents and purposes' or 'for all intensive purposes'?

For all intents and purposes. It descends from the legal formula 'to all intents, constructions and purposes' in a 16th-century Act of Parliament under Henry VIII. Intensive purposes is a classic eggcorn: a mishearing that seems to make sense.

Is 'irregardless' a real word?

It is a word in the sense that people use it, but it is nonstandard. The American Heritage Dictionary says it was coined in the US in the early 1900s, probably as a blend of irrespective and regardless, and that copyeditors virtually always change it to regardless; 90 percent of its Usage Panel rejected it in 2012.

Does 'begs the question' mean 'raises the question'?

In logic, begging the question means assuming the conclusion in the premise. Since at least the early 1900s it has also been used to mean 'raises the question.' The American Heritage Dictionary says the newer sense has nearly displaced the original in everyday use, though only slim majorities of its Usage Panel accepted it in 2013.

Is it wrong to use 'literally' figuratively?

It is informal, not new. Grammarphobia, citing the OED, notes the hyperbolic sense dates back to at least 1769, and writers including Twain, Joyce and Fitzgerald used it. Most dictionaries list it, often labeled informal, so avoid it in formal writing.

Is it 'could care less' or 'couldn't care less'?

Couldn't care less is older and more logical. Grammarphobia found it in a 1942 Kansas City Star story and found could care less in a 1948 Ottawa newspaper. Both are now common in American speech, but in writing the negative version avoids complaints.

Sources

Every factual claim on this page links to one of these. Checked October 2026. See how we source.

1. The Phrase Finder: For all intents and purposes phrases.org.uk
2. Grammarly: For all intents and purposes grammarly.com
3. Wikipedia: Eggcorn en.wikipedia.org
4. Grammarphobia: More about caring less grammarphobia.com
5. Merriam-Webster: Is it 'could' or 'couldn't care less'? merriam-webster.com
6. American Heritage Dictionary: usage note at 'beg' ahdictionary.com
7. Wikipedia: Begging the question en.wikipedia.org
8. American Heritage Dictionary: usage note at 'irregardless' ahdictionary.com
9. Grammarphobia: Literal minded grammarphobia.com
10. Merriam-Webster: Did we change the definition of 'literally'? merriam-webster.com
11. The Phrase Finder: Nip in the bud phrases.org.uk
12. The Phrase Finder: Toe the line phrases.org.uk
13. Vocabulary.com: Case in point vs case and point vocabulary.com
14. American Heritage Dictionary: usage note at 'hone' ahdictionary.com
15. American Heritage Dictionary: usage note at 'chomp' ahdictionary.com
16. American Heritage Dictionary: usage note at 'moot' ahdictionary.com
17. American Heritage Dictionary: usage note at 'decimate' ahdictionary.com
18. American Heritage Dictionary: usage note at 'ironic' ahdictionary.com
19. American Heritage Dictionary: usage note at 'peruse' ahdictionary.com