For example, I think ‘cheap at half the price’ originates with ‘at half the price it would be cheap, so I’m selling it for its proper value’. I’ve got a book somewhere with an explanation of its Cockney roots anyway (definitely not an Americanism). There are some great books out there which can mollify even the hardest language pedant - for example, the apparently pardoxical phrase ‘the exception that proves the rule’ makes a lot more sense when you learn that ‘prove’ used to mean ‘test’.

With the ‘I could care less’ example - for those it frustrates, I wonder if you’re missing the nuances of it? I’ve always been fond of this variation which to my ear always has an ellipsis at the end “I could care less…” as in “…but I don’t” which has more a playfully, insouciantly sarcastic ring to it, compared with the tart British equivalent: “I couldn’t care less”.

Whoever mentioned the ‘just’ example. YES! And it’s not new either; I remember that frustrating me from the earliest possible age (particularly when it made it into tv scripts and so on) - before I even understood why. It *just* didn’t sound right =]

I keep hearing people move the word ‘just’ as in the first example - my ‘web developer’ example mearly illustrates the point, as it’s easier to see from this that the position of the word ‘just’ gives the phrase a completely different meaning.

“I’m not just a web designer” would mean I am a web designer, and I am other things as well.

“I’m just not a web designer” would mean I’ve tried to be a web designer, but found that it’s not for me.

“I’m not just a clone”
“I’m just not a clone” - to quote ‘The Streets’.

One of these makes sense, the other is totally incorrect - and I keep hearing it in movies, tv, music and conversation.

Let’s change the line a little:

“I’m not just a web developer”
“I’m just not a web developer” - much better.

While we’re on the subject: Anyone who can’t get ‘their’, ‘there’ and ‘they’re’ right makes me want to kill.

In fact there are several of those that annoy me: ‘to’, ‘too’ and ‘two’ or ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ for instance.

I used to know a guy who couldn’t get ‘no’ and ‘know’ the right way around.

And it’s ‘ASK’ not ‘AKS’…

I hope you found the advice there to be useful.

thanks,
Paul

If you have an itch, you scratch it, not itch it!