Misunderstood, Mis-spoken (typed) Phrases.

[jaF0]

Somewhere out there is a list of mis-heard lyrics, some of which are pretty comical.

In writing, I see people trying to use correct words and phrases for the most part. But there are a number of fairly common words and phrases that are usually used wrong. Some are far less common.

I'm a bit short on examples, but one is 'as a side' instead of 'as an aside'. I'm sure people will chime in with others.

Do you ever try to use any of them deliberately to give your characters character?



Speaking of which .... this thread title. Hyphen or not? It doesn't look right either way.

 

[KeithD]

"misspoken" is in Webster's. No hyphen.

 

[Ginlover]

Rein
She gave me a free reign
She gave me a free rein
It is giving a horse a long rein to stretch and move as they want. Not setting up a monarchy.

 

[YDB95]

Everyone's seen "pubic" where they really meant "public". This being an erotica website, I've managed to get it the other way around twice.

 

[PoisonPen33]

For years I wrote "all intensive purposes" instead of "all intents and purposes."

 

[Privates1stClass]

I ran across a story with the words, "I put my hand around her waste." Now that's a mental image I didn't care for.

 

[soulhouse]

"I could care less", rather than "I couldn't care less" - a contentious one for Americans, possibly?

 

[Lori_the_Hoosier]

By the way, “I could care less” has been a pet peeve of mine for years.

I do that to my (very) English husband just to watch him wince, but now he just ignores it; I think his ears have developed protective rough surfaces...

 

[SimonDoom]

"I could care less", rather than "I couldn't care less" - a contentious one for Americans, possibly?

I'm American. "I could care less" is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

 

[KeithD]

discrete/discreet. I have to look it up every single time.

 

[KeithD]

fewer than/less than (for that matter, then/than).

 

[Bramblethorn]

voilà/viola (there it is; a musical instrument)
rouge/rogue (red, esp. makeup; a scoundrel)
vicious/viscous/viscious (fierce/cruel; thick liquid; not a word)
discrete/discreet (separate; unobtrusive)
bonafied ("bona fide", from Latin "good faith")

 

[Bramblethorn]

discrete/discreet. I have to look it up every single time.

Mnemonic: the one that means "separate" is the one where the "e"s are separated.

 

[jaF0]

I ran across a story with the words, "I put my hand around her waste." Now that's a mental image I didn't care for.

There are those who are into that.

I guess my question got lost .....


Do you ever try to use any of them deliberately to give your characters character? In other words, do you intentionally write some of your characters badly?

'I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way" -- Jessica Rabbit


I think one person addressed it.

 

[Rustyoznail]

There are those who are into that.

I guess my question got lost .....


Do you ever try to use any of them deliberately to give your characters character? In other words, do you intentionally write some of your characters badly?

'I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way" -- Jessica Rabbit


I think one person addressed it.

IMO, using incorrect words (affect/effect) would only make the writer look bad unless you went to great pains to make it clear your character had mispronounced it.

I have used odd phrasing, particularly for what would be normal for most Australians.

"Yeah, no worries, I can have it there by Mundee at the latest."

"No worries then. All good. Catcha ron."

Vs.

"That is no worries Russ." Madiha frowned. That didn't sound right, even to her.

The first two are typical Aussie. The latter is stilted.

 

[Ginlover]

Do you ever try to use any of them deliberately to give your characters character? In other words, do you intentionally write some of your characters badly?

'I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way" -- Jessica Rabbit


I think one person addressed it.

Yes in dialogue. But that limits it as it would be daft to write out the word reigns not reins in speech to show a character doesnt have a good understanding of acceptable language.

Could of should of do work in dialogue thou I'd expect too subtle for most and just annoying for the rest.

 

[KeithD]

Yes in dialogue. But that limits it as it would be daft to write out the word reigns not reins in speech to show a character doesnt have a good understanding of acceptable language.

It would be daft to do that in dialogue at all. Reigns/reins are homophones. They are pronounced the same way. They are in dialogue. Spoken dialogue doesn't provide distinctions in spelling. A reader would take this as writer daftness, not anything related to the character.

 

[SisterJezabel]

There are those who are into that.

I guess my question got lost .....


Do you ever try to use any of them deliberately to give your characters character? In other words, do you intentionally write some of your characters badly?

'I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way" -- Jessica Rabbit


I think one person addressed it.

"I just want to be effluent."

"You are effluent, Kimmy!"

Kath and Kim is perhaps the pinnacle of mispronunciation!

 

[Bramblethorn]

"Dominate" vs. "dominant". The former is the verb, the latter is the adjective/noun.

 

[Handley_Page]

I found a good one in my paper the other week.
Use of the word AXE which should have been ASK.

 

[SimonDoom]

There are a few that get me. And I was an English teacher, once.

"Compare with" versus "compare to."

After all these years I still pause a bit over lie, lay, lain and lay, laid, laid.

I get tripped up over the comma/period/question mark going inside or outside the quotation marks sometimes. Americans and British do this differently, I believe.

There are some great misheard lyrics videos out there. My all-time favorite is the video of The Clash's Complete Control. I love The Clash but it's impossible to tell what they're singing much of the time so they're one of the best bands for this sort of thing.

"Turtles, cigarettes, and toads."

Love it.

Highly recommended if you need a few minutes of diversion and a laugh. Search for "misheard lyrics clash complete control"

 

[irvingsmusings]

secretsxywriter wrote an excellent (and highly amusing) How To on this topic:
https://www.literotica.com/beta/s/a-fucking-english-lesson

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Rein
She gave me a free reign
She gave me a free rein
It is giving a horse a long rein to stretch and move as they want. Not setting up a monarchy.

Unless it’s a wife...

 

[TarnishedPenny]

To my shame, my spellcheck caught me this morning writing ‘principle’ when I knew - yes, I absolutely did - the word I needed was ‘principal’. I am trying to convince myself that the iPad autocorrected me into the error and then caught it.

 

[yowser]

Mondegreens

This has come up for discussion in various venues over the years, the collection of them inevitably a growing mass of amusement.

Searching for Mondegreens gives you explanation and examples. (The Ur mention is ostensibly a young girl hearing her mother read an old Scottish poem and mishearing "layd him on the green" as "Lady Mondegreen."

A few classic examples, as provided by former SF Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll include:

"There's a bathroom on the right" (for "There's a bad moon on the rise" in "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival)

"The girl with colitis goes by" (for "the girl with kaleidoscope eyes" in "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by the Beatles)

"Excuse me while I kiss this guy" (for the Jimi Hendrix lyric "Excuse me while I kiss the sky")