This picturesque West Cork home with separate basement apartment is on the market for €695,000
This picturesque West Cork home with separate basement apartment is on the market for €695,000

Sarah Finnan

‘The Easter holidays are a fresh kind of hell when you have kids and a job’
‘The Easter holidays are a fresh kind of hell when you have kids and a...

Dominique McMullan

Annutri co-founder and award-winning businesswoman Anita Donoghue on the power of a positive mindset
Annutri co-founder and award-winning businesswoman Anita Donoghue on the power of a positive mindset

IMAGE

This Clontarf home was reconfigured to streamline the layout and maximise its views
This Clontarf home was reconfigured to streamline the layout and maximise its views

Megan Burns

6 classic movies worth watching over Easter
6 classic movies worth watching over Easter

Jennifer McShane

The friend zone: How to navigate finding friends as an adult
The friend zone: How to navigate finding friends as an adult

Sarah Gill

Supper Club: Fearne Cotton’s haddock burrito, punchy salsa and homemade guacamole
Supper Club: Fearne Cotton’s haddock burrito, punchy salsa and homemade guacamole

Meg Walker

New life has been breathed into this Victorian Portobello home thanks to a revamp that’s full of personality
New life has been breathed into this Victorian Portobello home thanks to a revamp that’s...

Megan Burns

This rustic four-bedroom home in Westport is on the market for €449,000
This rustic four-bedroom home in Westport is on the market for €449,000

Sarah Finnan

My Career: Archivist at Guinness Eibhlin Colgan
My Career: Archivist at Guinness Eibhlin Colgan

Sarah Finnan

Image / Editorial

These Are The Most Common Words And Phrases We Say Wrong Every Day


By Jennifer McShane
29th Nov 2015
These Are The Most Common Words And Phrases We Say Wrong Every Day

We all remember the moments – which quite possibly occur while drunk – in which one friend hilariously gets a well-known phrase or song lyric mixed up. For the record, that Taylor Swift line is ?Got a long list of ex-lovers? and not ?Gotta lot of Starbucks lovers? .

Well, according to a recent?Stylist Magazine survey, 3 in 4 admit to getting words or phrases completely wrong in everyday conversations?and the results should give you a giggle this weekend.

Some of the most commonly misused phrases include ?out on a whim? it should be ?out on a limb, ‘escape goat? instead of ‘scapegoat?, ?for all intensive purposes? that should, of course, be ‘for all intents and purposes’ and hilariously, ?nip it in the butt? instead of ?nip it in the bud.? Looking at the results in more detail, it is fair to say that even those of us who may happily boast about our apparent top-notch conversational skills might get a shock as to how easy it is to say the wrong thing.

The survey, conducted by Privilege Insurance, found that 66% of the 2,000 respondents also used words and phrases they don’t actually understand the meaning of at all. So, please take comfort in that we’ve all committed, to use an aptly timed expression from Mean Girls, word vomit at one point or another. Though, this writer fails to see how one could mix up ?crotch? with ?crutch.? Ah well, if needs be, blame your hangover.

Have a gander at the full list of common offenders below:? The correct phrase is in brackets:

Most commonly misused phrases:

28% Hunger pains (Hunger pangs)
22% Wreck havoc (Wreak Havoc)
20% Out on a whim (Out on a limb)
20% Mute point (Moot point)
18% Beckon call (Beck and call)
18% Escape Goat (Scapegoat)
18% Nip it in the butt (Nip it in the bud)
16% For all intensive purposes (For all intents and purposes)
12% Extract revenge (Exact revenge)

Most commonly misused words:

31% Affect (Effect)
28% Pacifically (Specifically)
23% Arks (Ask)*
21% Suppose (Supposed to)
19% Yourself / Myself(You / Me)
16% Advise (Advice)
14% Genuinely (Generally)
14% Adverse (Averse)
14% Your (You’ll)
2% Crotch (Crutch)
12% Flaunted (Flouted)
11% Patients (Patience)
10% Banter (Barter)
9% Decimated (Devastated)
9% Photographic (Photogenic)

How many are you guilty of getting wrong?