SAY WHAT? Part 27

More common mistakes:

1 to all intensive purposes - okay, it makes sense in a way , okay it may even be mildly poetic in a way, but it should be to all intents and purposes, a snippet of rather old-fashioned sub-legalese which it's strange to still hear on the zephyr of quotidian parlance (so to speak).

2 bog standard - meaning run of the mill, everyday, average standard. Presumably, this mistake derives from the idea of 'bog' being low and unpleasant, or connects to the slang 'bogging' meaning shoddy. Should be box standard, as in a standard, boxed manufactured product.

3 fine tooth-comb - meaning a figurative device for close inspection. Should be fine-toothed comb. After all, when did you last comb your teeth, laddie?

4 Reubenesque - meaning full-figured, voluptuous or, to use that excellent German word zaftig. Please stop saying this as of today, since it should be Rubensesque (after the painter Rubens who often painted women this way).

Source: by RcL