Wednesday 31 July 2013

Averse versus adverse

Have you ever heard anyone use the phrase "I wouldn't be adverse to that". I hear it quite regularly.

Of course, the person means to say "averse to that".

Turns out it is in "The top 10 misquoted phrases in Britain" as reported by the "The Telegraph" newspaper. It comes it at number 8.

The full list is as follows:

1) A damp squid (a damp squib)
2) On tender hooks (on tenter hooks)
3) Nip it in the butt (nip it in the bud)
4) Champing at the bit (chomping at the bit)
5) A mute point (a moot point)
6) One foul swoop (one fell swoop)
7) All that glitters is not gold (all that glisters is not gold)
8) Adverse to (averse to)
9) Batting down the hatches (batten down the hatches)
10) Find a penny pick it up (find a pin pick it up)

Aside from #8, my personal favourites are #1 and #2.

Here is a picture of a very damp squid: