9 Popular Phrases You Might Be Saying WRONG

Hold on to your hat because this post just might blow your mind.

Even if you’re a native English speaker, you might be getting these nine common phrases WRONG. Each of these phrases has an unfortunate buddy that SOUNDS like the real thing but is actually incorrect in at least one very important way (except for the last one on the list…that particular mistake is really just inexcusable in my opinion).`

If you’ve made any of these mistakes in the past, don’t feel bad about it! Just about everyone has done it at some point. And now you’ll know the RIGHT thing to say instead.

Let’s start off with one of the WORST offenders.

CORRECT: “I Couldn’t Care Less”; COMMON ERROR: “I Could Care Less”

If you COULD care less, that means you care at least a little bit. So if you’re trying to communicate that you don’t care at all, you should say, “I couldn’t care less.” That way, you’re letting people know that you care so little that it’s not even possible to care any less.

CORRECT: “Nip It In the Bud”; COMMON ERROR: “Nip It In the Butt”

A bud is the part of a plant that will one day blossom into a flower or leaf. Metaphorically, it means “something not yet mature or at full development.” When you nip something in the bud, it means you stop it before it ever really gets started.

When something is nipped in the butt, all it gets is a sore heinie.

CORRECT: “Whet Your Appetite”; COMMON ERROR: “Wet Your Appetite”

“Whet” is not a very common word at all, and it’s pronounced exactly like the much more common word “wet,” so it’s understandable that people mix these two up. However, in context, only “whet” actually makes sense.

“Whet” means “to make something keen or more acute; to excite or stimulate.” Whetting your appetite means you’re preparing to eat, maybe by munching on a tasty appetizer. It’s not physically possible to “wet” an appetite.

CORRECT: “For All Intents and Purposes”; COMMON ERROR: “For All Intensive Purposes”

This idiom is used to say that one thing has the same effect as something else. In other words, the intents (intentions) and purposes (objects or aims) are the same.

An intensive purpose would be a purpose that is strengthened or highly concentrated…and I’m not even sure what that practically means.

CORRECT: “Dog-Eat-Dog World”; COMMON ERROR: “Doggy-Dog World”

As a dog lover, a “doggy-dog world” sounds like a lovely place. However, what most people mean when they use this idiom is a “dog-EAT-dog world,” meaning a world that is ruthless where everyone is out for only themself.

CORRECT: “Moot Point”; COMMON ERROR: “Mute Point”

“Moot” is another super uncommon word that’s frequently replaced with a similar but not-quite-synonymous word (in this case, “mute”).

A “moot” is a sort of mock trial in which law students practice their skills by arguing on opposite sides of a case. Thus, a “moot point” is one that doesn’t really matter because it won’t actually affect anything in the real world. You can argue a moot point to the ends of the Earth, but it’s like those mock trials that the law students participate in—a lot of talking that’s just for practice.

A “mute point” actually doesn’t make ZERO sense, though—you could think of it as a point that is silent and thus not really practical or helpful. Still, it’s worth noting that “moot point” came first.

CORRECT: “Nerve-(w)racking”; COMMON ERROR: “Nerve-Wrecking”

In this situation, there are TWO correct answers! When used as a verb, “wrack” and “rack” have similar meanings: “to cause to suffer” or “to ruin.” They’re basically spelling variants of the same word, though most sources say “rack” is the more correct version, so if you want to be totally right, use “nerve-racking.”

The one that’s NOT considered correct is “nerve-wrecking.” (But if I’m being very honest, I bet this one will become standard pretty soon—technically, “wreck” means something very similar to “wrack” and “rack,” so why not toss one more option into the mix?)

CORRECT: “Another Think Coming”; COMMON ERROR: “Another Thing Coming”

Nope, you didn’t read that wrong: The CORRECT phrase is “You’ve got another think coming,” NOT “another thing coming.” This phrase is originally British, and they’re known to say things like, “Have a think,” meaning “think about it some more.”

The correct phrase (“another THINK coming”) first appeared around the mid-19th century, with the error (“another THING coming”) popping up several decades later. These days, the error is unfortunately more common than the correct version.

When you think about it, “think” makes a lot more sense in this context. “You’ve got another think coming” means that you originally thought one thing, but it’s wrong, so you need to think some more to get to the correct conclusion. “You’ve got another thing coming” doesn’t really mean anything at all—what thing do I have coming?

The confusion probably came about because the phrase “have a think” didn’t really make it over to American English. Add that to the fact that the “k” and “c” in the phrase “another think coming” kind of run into each other when we say it out loud, and it’s easy to replace “think” with “thing.”

CORRECT: “Figuratively”; COMMON ERROR: “Literally”

Why do people insist on using “literally” when they actually mean the literal OPPOSITE of that word?

If someone tells you that their cat had literally millions of kittens, they almost certainly mean their cat had FIGURATIVELY (i.e., metaphorically) millions of kittens (meaning the cat just had a lot of kittens and it feels like millions). Otherwise, we should all be concerned for that cat.

“Literally” means “in a literal way” or “in a completely accurate way.” If it’s not 100%, completely true, it’s not literal.

“Figuratively” means “with a meaning that is metaphorical rather than literal.”

The sad thing is that people have used “literally” incorrectly so often that it now has a new, secondary dictionary definition that’s the complete opposite of the first definition. How can “literally” mean “not literally true or possible”??

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Check out 20 English words that you might be mispronouncing!

Sources:

• Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage. 14th ed. Taunton, MA: QuadGraphics, 2016.
• “Having a Think About ‘Another Think/Thing Coming.’” Merriam-Webster. Accessed January 2, 2025. https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/usage-another-think-coming-or-another-thing-coming.