Common English phrases that even native speakers get wrong

Improve your Vocabulary

English at least, even the most experienced communicators get their sayings wrong from time to time. Here’s a roundup of seven of the most often-committed errors. 

“It’s a dog-eat-dog world,” commonly mistaken as “It’s a doggy-dog world”

This expression means that people are innately selfish and will use others to get ahead in life. When spoken aloud, however, “dog-eat-dog” sounds almost exactly like “doggy dog”. 

“Sneak peek,” commonly mistaken as “Sneak peak”

This phrase refers to an advanced preview or a look behind the scenes. Maybe it’s getting to see a not-yet-released movie trailer. Maybe it’s a special viewing of a long-awaited designer handbag. 

“Pass muster,” commonly mistaken as “Pass mustard”

You’d use this expression when someone or something doesn’t meet an accepted standard. I shouldn’t have to tell you that your “I wish it was Friday” t-shirt isn’t going to pass muster at a corporate job interview, even under a blazer. “Muster” means the assembly of troops for inspection.

“Whet your appetite,” commonly mistaken as “Wet your appetite”

“Whet” means “to stimulate” so this phrase means to sharpen your desire for something. That doesn’t have to be food, it could be a photo of the Eiffel Tower that “whets your appetite” for a Parisian vacation. The reason people get this wrong: “whet” is an old English word, rarely used outside this expression, whereas “wet” in the context of appetites, conjures the image of a watering mouth, which kinda makes sense, too. Nom nom!

“I couldn’t care less,” commonly mistaken as “I could care less”

Imagine your ex just got together with someone else. You want to show that you’re cool with it—that there’s caring, and then there’s not caring at all, which is what you’re doing. If you say, “I couldn’t care less,” it correctly means that you’re at care-level-zero, the ground floor.

“You’ve got another think coming,” commonly mistaken as “You’ve got another thing coming”

Yes, you read that right. This phrase is so widely misused that nearly everybody gets it wrong, from former US president Barack Obama to the band Judas Priest (who made it the title of a song).

“Nip it in the bud,” commonly mistaken as “Nip it in the butt”

If you don’t want a flower to bloom, you cut off (or “nip”) the bud. Likewise in life, if you see a problem developing, you put an end to it before it gets worse. Makes sense, right? Yet somehow this expression has taken a dark turn. It’s gone from a pruning analogy to one about bum-biting, all because of that homophone issue.

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