A listener confesses that for decades she misunderstood the expression take it with a grain of salt, meaning retain a healthy dose of skepticism, as take it with a grand assault. Such mishearings of a word or phrase that nevertheless make some sense are jokingly called eggcorns. The Eggcorn Database has a collection them, including from the gecko for from the get-go, and in the feeble position for in the fetal position. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Eggcorns: Not Quite Right Versions of Well-Known Expressions”
Speaking of words misheard, we heard from Brooke Whitaker, who left us a voicemail, in which she said, forever and ever, I would say grand assault. I thought you would take things with a grand assault. And about five years ago, I realized it was grain of salt. And that makes a whole lot more sense. I’m a 42-year-old woman and pretty social, so I had used grand assault in many conversations over the years. So it was a pretty humbling experience.
Oh, to think about all those times that you said it and nobody gently corrected you, like took you aside and said, hon, it’s grain of salt.
I have a friend who just told me that for years she’s been saying from the gecko.
Oh, yeah. That’s a common one.
Yeah.
Instead of from the get-go.
Yes, she never knew what the lizard was about, but she would always say, yeah, from the get-go.
By the way, we talk about egg corns on the show pretty often, I think, in the fabulous egg corn database. That’s E-G-G-C-O-R-N. Google that, and there’s a bazillion of them.
Like in a feeble position.
Instead of a fetal position.
