More often than not, I hear people using extremely common phrases in ways that make no sense. The following is a correction of the mistakes we've all been making from the time we could speak.
1. Blood is thicker than water.
What you meant to say is, "The blood of the tomb is thicker than the water of the womb." When including the entirety of this commonly misused phrase, its meaning is actually reversed. The next time your mom uses, "Blood is thicker than water!" to guilt you into staying home with her, you should probably just let her be wrong because she's your mom. In the back of your mind, you'll know the phrase was coined by warriors who had bonded with their peers, and that's all that really matters.
2. I could care less.
The phrase is, "I couldn't care less." If you could care less, it means you already care a little bit. This ruins any cool facade you attempted to put up by acting as if you don't care. Clearly, you do, you could even do it less!
3. For all intensive purposes.
This one is concerning. Replacing the word "intents" with the word "intense" makes this phrase almost frightening. Intensive purposes are a little hardcore for me, I prefer to use the phrase as intended, "for all intents and purposes."
4. Irregardless
I didn't even think this had a meaning. The word is "regardless," implying a lack of regard. Adding the prefix -ir creates a double negative, thus making this wrong.
5. Rome wasn't built in a day.
But it did burn in one. At least, that's the half of the phrase we forget. A proverb we generally see as inspiring is truly meant to head warning about our fleeting successes.
6. Curiosity killed the cat.
And satisfaction brought him back! Don't let the misuse of old English proverbs ruin your curious behavior! Finding what you've been searching for will help you thrive.
7. No rest for the wicked.
The actual phrase is, “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” Meaning that the wicked will never have solace in their world, rather than the wicked need a nap.
8. Starve a cold, feed a fever.
Please eat, especially if you're sick. The doctor being quoted actually said, "If you starve a cold, you'll have to feed a fever." This implies that you should eat. Food loves you; food is there for you.
9. Et tu, Brute?
This is a tricky one. The fault, dear readers, is not in the phrasing, but in the understanding. This doesn't mean "And you, Brutus?" rather it means "even you." It's not an inclusion of Caesar's greatest acquaintance, rather a separation of him from others due to higher expectations.
10. Money is the root of all evil.
In the King James version of the Bible, this phrase actually refers to the love of money rather than money itself. The sin is in the action rather than the object.
