No one is immune from screwing up expressions from time to time – not even us writers. Sometimes these phrases make it into print (as it were). When I come across one, I wince in pain, or in the following case, laugh out loud.
In a recent news article about Curt Schilling getting fired from ESPN for a social media post, he was quoted as saying, “This latest brew ha ha is beyond hilarious.” I beg to differ. When I read it, it was hilarious. Of course he meant “brouhaha.”
Here are a few common phrases that people often get wrong:
Wrong: “For all intensive purposes.”
Right: “For all intents and purposes.”
Wrong: “It peaked my interest.”
Right: “It piqued my interest.”
Wrong: “One in the same.”
Right: “One and the same.”
Wrong: “At my beckon call.”
Right: “At my beck and call.”
Wrong: “I wait with baited breath.”
Right: “I wait with bated breath.”
Wrong: “He made us tow the line.”
Right: “He made us toe the line.”
So be careful when you write for publication. Check and re-check phrases if you’re the least bit unsure of the correct form.
(c) 2016 Margie Dana
I’ve been publishing a weekly enewsletter (
I was inspired to write this tip by a client, who asked if I could possibly write the final paragraph of a newsletter in another way.
Oprah’s not the only one who loves bread. I eat it at least once a day, often twice. 
An old commercial for prunes asked, “Are three enough? Six too many?” It applies to this tip about how often you should post on social channels.
Often I wonder if others think we writers can be given a topic for a blog post or an article and just sit down and dash it off, lickety-split.
And no, it isn’t, “How much will you pay me?”
They are not at all the same type of content.