Ten Misused Phrases That Make You Sound Dumb
You may have been saying these phrases your entire life and never knew you were saying them wrong. I'm here to save you from looking like a fool!
Use the knowledge gained from this list to correct your coworkers, which is the quickest way to make friends.
- "It's a mute point" should be "it's a moot point". "Mute" means to silence something, "moot" means something that's insignificant.
- "For all intensive purposes." The correct way to say it is, "For all intents and purposes." "Intents" as in intentions.
- "Deep-seeded" should be "deep-seated." It means something buried deeply within an existing structure.
- "I could care less" should be "I couldn't care less." If you could care less, that means you do care about something. If you couldn't, then you don't care at all.
- "Shoo-in" is actually spelled S-H-O-O, but that only matters when you write it. It comes from the horse racing term "shoo," meaning to urge in a certain direction.
- "Should of" is wrong, and "should have" is right. People get it confused because the contraction "should've" sounds like "should of."
- "One in the same" should be "one and the same." It's a minor difference, and you might be able to get away with it.
- "It's a doggie dog world" should be "dog-eat-dog" world. A "doggie dog" world sounds cute. A "dog-eat-dog" world describes a ruthless place.
- "Tongue and cheek" should be "tongue in cheek." It's literally describing a facial expression people make when they're joking.
- "Jive with" should be "jibe with." "Jibe" means to be in agreement with something, "jive" is a type of dance, or a way of speaking.
Read more at Work + Money.