As our language continues to "evolve"...

[avevale_intelligencer]

I notice that the phrase "to home in," common when I was a youngster, is now being misreplaced with increasing frequency by the meaningless phrase "to hone in," presumably from some idea about locating a place or a person being akin to sharpening. I expect that, as with most of these changes, nobody has any idea that it hasn't always been like that, and certainly nobody cares.

I look forward with a certain glum fascination to the first reference to "honing pigeons."

Comments

Re: I don't like these either, but...

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

"The idea that "evolution" is a process of improvement is, in biology, a leftover from the thought that Homo sap. is the crown of creation..."

And you know that I think the idea that evolution is the correct concept to be applying here is just as hogwashy, and in a way just as arrogant, as that other belief, once commonly held among wise and intelligent people. I look forward to the day when we see both ideas in the same light.

"Eggcorn" is an interesting concept, but I think I personally prefer the term "mistake." (Which of course is not to say that mistakes are a bad thing or that everyone has to speak perfect English or that there is even one clear idea of what perfect English is and public schools and BBC and colonialism and snobbery and how dare I and blah blah blah blah blah and blah.) Everything may flow, but if my chair flows under me I get it fixed or get a new one.

Words are chairs. We rely on them for support.

Words are bricks. We build our lives out of them.

Words are power tools. We need to control them or people could get hurt.

But words, above all, are ours. They belong to us, and we must look after them.