h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi, Fords, and thanks for commenting

I'm not sure "misconstrued" is the right word either - it sounds too deliberate Maybe simply "mistaken", and change the title to something involving eggcorns? Misinterpreted?

I can't say I've ever heard the term "hard stop" being used - or "Shagreen" (sorry, missed your post, Bob)

How common are they, really? I'd rather not go digging up obscure examples just to pad it out, lest I confuse people.

Oops

Entry: Commonly Misheard Phrases - A53172119
Author: Malabarista - Most people's horizon is a circle with a radius of zero. They call it their point of view. - U1528154

Brilliant entry - I just read the latest draft and loved it!

How about deep-seated vs deep-seeded?

Ever since I read this article I have had a phrase on the tip of my tongue, and now just remembered it. It's when people write 'should of' instead of 'should have'.

Hmmm - I'll have to give those some thought - though "should have" isn't really a set expression, is it? Just correct grammar

Because I felt like it, I've done a blob for this now... http://hotimg25.fotki.com/a/80_128/77_190/shoein-vi.jpg

Fabby blob

I've heard "It was a bit of a damp squid" but I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for.

I'd like to see 'damp squid' in there - it seems to fit well, in my opinion.

This is very entertaining, Mala.

One thing you don't mention is that the 'misheard' versions often make it into print. 'Whet one's whistle' is spelled that way in works by a number of authors, including Henry Fielding (1742) and Thomas Hardy (1908). John Milton used 'eek out' in 1641.

I like the "damp squid", I'll have to work that in.

Full disclosure: all but one of the other examples were seen in the wild right here on hootoo!

And thanks, Icy - I'll see whether I can mention that somewhere. But we wouldn't want to *encourage* that kind of thing in writing... Wasn't Milton before standardised English, anyway? As far as I know, German spelling was still mostly hit and miss at the time.

"Damp squid" added

Great article Mala - very interesting.

Probably not appropriate for your entry - but it reminded me of a story I had once heard that I found quite amusing:

"A lovely little story from Brunswick, Maine about a slip of the ear that caused a commotion: On May 13, a girl in Maine tried to call her mother at work. "Is my mom nearby?" she asked the receptionist, who heard the girl said, "There's a bomb nearby."

Here's an exercise: how do you get "bomb" from "mom"? The "m" and "b" share phonetic properties, so might have been misheard. Also, if the girl had a stuffed nose, the "m" would sound like a "b." (Try this yourself.)

The receptionist did the right thing: she asked for clarification. The girl repeated, "Is my mom nearby?" Again, the receptionist heard the more sinister remark about a bomb. Because it was a wrong number, the girl abruptly hung up. The receptionist, alarmed, called the police, the building was evacuated for 45 minutes, and the area searched for a bomb, which wasn't found. (No word on the mom.)"

Oh my favourite misheard statement is undoubtedly apocryphal, but brilliant none the less. It concerns a wartime radio transmission from a field commander to his headquarters.

What he said: "Send reinforcements. Going to advance."

What was heard: "Send three and fourpence. Going to a dance."

Footnote: Three (shillings) and fourpence is an amount of cash in pre-1971 UK currency equivalent (roughly) to 16p

'lo, Mal:

Misinterpreted is also fine, and I guess misconstrued would have to be modified by 'unintentional' to avoid the intentional connotation it can carry.

Hard-stop is used in manufacturing, engineering, the military, and as corporate-speak buzz talk. Probably not the broad spectrum usage you want, though it does appear occasionally on the telly and in cinema.

Looking forward to seeing this in the EG!

I have read 'for all intents and purposes' written as 'for all intensive purposes' before.

I don't know if you want to go into people who speak other languages mishearing phrases, but there's some here from a BBC News page published the other day: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8096988.stm

"Bated breath is often misheard as baited breath." These are pronounced the same, so it's not really misheard, is it? It's mispelt. Same goes, actually, for all of your examples except 'hem and haw / hum and hah' and 'damp squib/squid'. I think this could be fixed by changing the title.

I love the tone you've taken throughout this entry - interesting, engaging and amusing. I'm also extremely impressed by your knowledge of this considering you're not a native English speaker. I think I may be voting for this as Entry of the Month in the near future.

She said "bated" but I heard "baited".

Hmm.

Yes, it's not merely a spelling mistake, it's an understanding mistake And I still haven't found the right word for it. "Misunderstood" implies that what was meant wasn't understood - and in all these cases, they are being used by people who know what these phrases mean, just that they're using them with the wrong words.

The trouble with the "hard stop" is that in all the examples, except the corporate ones, it's being used as a technical term, which isn't quite the same as a set expression.

Thanks for the stories, even if I can't include them

(And I do consider myself a native speaker; I spent 8 years of my childhood in the US and do nearly half my thinking in English; most of the rest in German. )

(I note with horror that that BBC article is using the header "'Simply hysterical'" where they mean "hilarious". )

Oh, no, wait. It does seem to be used correctly further down in the article