50 Mistreated Words and Desecrated Phrases: Of the upmost importance

Even the most uppity sorts know better than to claim anything is of the upmost importance. It just isn’t so.

Nothing is ever of the upmost importance.

Merely uttering such a phrase would be a total downer. Even an underclassman would reach higher than that.

When something is significant to the uttermost degree, one might say it is of the utmost importance.

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50 Mistreated Words and Desecrated Phrases: Nip it in the butt

Let me put this as delicately as possible, so as not to become a pain in the ... well, you know.

When someone wants to curtail an undesirable habit, prevent a negative pattern from forming, or stop a bad process from becoming a pattern, he or she might decide to nip it in the bud.

It’s a gardening term, folks. If a horticulturalist snips off a blossom before it blooms (or yanks out a weed before it flowers), then he or she likely has the best chance of heading off proliferation of the plant.

Nipping it in the bud is acting promptly to keep a problem from getting too big and out of control. At least, that is the intention.

Nipping it in the butt is another matter altogether. 

Just ask my neighbor’s dog, whose butt-biting behavior is something I wish his owner had nipped in the bud.

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50 Mistreated Words and Desecrated Phrases: Nauseous

This misused word makes me sick. Hey, that’s what it means!

If you say you are nauseous, it doesn’t mean you have nausea. It means you are causing nausea. And that makes me nauseated.

People mix those two words up all the time. It’s enough to bring on the bends and leave one woozy.

Of course, if my nausea brings forth the natural result, that might be considered nauseous. Nausea can be contagious, you know.

Anything nauseous is likely to cause nausea. It’s nauseating and downright disgusting.

And that’s nothing to sneeze at.

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50 Mistreated Words and Desecrated Phrases: Mute point

I might have to moo about this. I can remain mute no longer on this point.

A mute point is not what most folks think it is. 

A mute point might mean someone is staying mum about something. But a moot point is another animal altogether. 

It’s a legal term.

When we say, “The point is moot,” we mean the issue has become irrelevant, obsolete, or unworthy of discussion. A moot point might be debatable, but the outcome carries no practical merit. Mock court participants might argue moot points.

A mute point would be unspoken. A moot point probably ought to be. Big difference.

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50 Mistreated Words and Desecrated Phrases: Irregardless

Er, here’s another one of those nonsensical double negatives. The “ir” pretty much negates the “regardless.”

Plus, “irregardless” isn’t even a word, irrespective of one’s linguistical prowess.

So, regardless of how tempting it may be, using “irregardless” is irregular and just plain irritating. It’s irrefutable.

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