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There is a deli I know of that sells sandwitches and purposely spells it that way. It is located on Waterwitch Avenue in Highlands, NJ, but I think it is closed right now because of the storm damage. Just about everything on Waterwitch Avenue was flooded.
About 15 years ago, I accompanied a friend of mine when he went to purchase a new car.
In an apparent attempt to bond with my Chinese friend, the salesman informed us that his son was about to depart on a business trip to China.
When we asked which cities his son was scheduled to visit, the salesman told us that, "First he is going to Beijing, and after that, he is going to Peking".
What is absolutely **killing** me is, over the past several years, the widespread use of long a instead of short a in regular everyday use, rather than when used for stress. Listening to newscasts (and people in general) is like an experience in Dick and Jane. "I walked down *a* street with *a* dog and *a* cat carrying *a* book and *a* bag." It has also resulted in a number of new words, among them *a* nuther, instead of *uhnuther* and an increasing failure to use "an" in front of words that begin with a vowel.
I'm not good at letting things go. I need to meditate more.
"For all intensive purposes"
How did this one ever come about? It doesn't sound anything like the actual phrase.
Well, this is just a theory, but a lot of people do mumble when they speak, so the folks who use this, "creative", form of the real expression may have heard it uttered by people who spoke indistinctly.
However, I also have to theorize that this type of gaffe is a reflection of people who don't read at all, or who don't read anything other than...perhaps...gossip magazines.
I believe that it is also a reflection of the reality that many people simply parrot words, expressions, and phrases without having the slightest clue regarding what their words actually mean.
On the subject of people not knowing what a phrase actually means reminds me of the phrase 'on the down low.' It originated with African-American men who live as heterosexuals, but, meet men for sex in a secret life. Several years ago there was a program telling about this on "Oprah," and shortly afterward newscasters and others quickly latched onto it to mean anything secret.
On the subject of people not knowing what a phrase actually means reminds me of the phrase 'on the down low.' It originated with African-American men who live as heterosexuals, but, meet men for sex in a secret life. Several years ago there was a program telling about this on "Oprah," and shortly afterward newscasters and others quickly latched onto it to mean anything secret.
Similarly, "in the closet", which was originally a gay-speak term for hiding one's sexuality from the rest of the world, has taken on new, unintended meanings.
For example, every time we have an election, I can depend on some candidate to accuse another candidate of being, "a closet liberal", or, "a closet Muslim", or, "a closet Tea-bagger", or...
Related to both of our observations, many years ago, I can recall hearing a linguist who stated that all modern slang originates in either the African-American community or in the gay community. Perhaps he was correct.
Last edited by Retriever; 02-17-2013 at 02:49 PM..
I'm so glad to hear about some of the devastated places coming back. That was ONE storm, one rotten storm.
This may have been mentioned before but I hate it when I see, "I have an astigmatism in one eye."
I have astigmatism and, as I always understood it, it's a condition, not an actual thing that you might be able to take out.
That's just as bad as people who say "I have a stigmatism in one eye." I've heard that before.
A similar weird thing people have started to say is "He is OCD." You can't BE OCD, you might HAVE OCD.
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I'm so glad to hear about some of the devastated places coming back. That was ONE storm, one rotten storm. 
