It’s our 90th Segment!
These writers were oh, so close.
“When the team gave up a touchdown in the last minute, the coach blew a casket.”
Gaskets are seals in a car’s engine block that keep fluids and hot gases from escaping. When they blow, it’s a big mess. That’s the origin of the cliché. Blowing a casket sounds like something in a horror movie.“The senator, who previously had supported the program, took a different tact.”
Took a different tack. (It’s from an old sailing term.)“Good things come to those who wait. Stephen can attest.”
You don’t just attest. You have to attest to something. “Stephen can attest to that.”“The Lakers squashed a deal that would have paired T-Mac with Kobe and Shaq.”
You squash a bug. You quash a deal.“That turned into the worse case scenario…”
Actually, it’s “a worst-case scenario.” And it’s a cliché.“The news anchor said he was blind-sighted by the dismissal.” (Submitted by Dr. Baruch Kahana).
He was blindsided.“You can call back between 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.”
You may call back between 7 and 6. You may call back from 7 to 6. You can’t do both.
8. “We’ll never know what might have happened if President Kennedy hadn’t diffused the Cuban Missile Crisis.”
”Diffuse” is an adjective for less concentrated (“diffuse scent.”) Kennedy defused the crisis. Look at the spelling and you get it right away. Think bomb squads.
9. We have a menu to wet the pickiest appetite.”
While people do at times drool while perusing a tantalizing menu, the proper word is whet, meaning to sharpen, although something at the bar might wet your whistle.
10. “President Lyndon Johnson identified the clash in Selma as a turning point in U.S. history.”
In a “clash,” both sides actively participate in violence. To suggest that, in March 1965, protestors on Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge clashed with police billy clubs, is to suggest that nails clash with hammers.
Watch this on video: https://youtu.be/ZsZdKmbca9g?si=r-k9iVfBE0pFqwSC
Next time: Huh?
Readers: "Something Went Horribly Wrong" features samples of bad writing we see nearly every day. You can participate! Be our duly deputized “grammar police.” Your motto: “To protect and correct.” Send in your photos of store signs, street signs, menus, TV news graphics, newspaper headlines, tweets, and so on. It doesn’t have to be a grammatical error. It can be just what we call “cowardly writing.” Include your name and home town so we can credit you properly. You're free to add a comment, although we reserve the right to edit or omit. Now get out there! Send to Eliot@eliotkleinberg.com
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