Safer to check

You know it's "buck naked", right? Check how you use these expressions

Let’s see… Are you the friend who constantly corrects other people's vocabulary and grammar? Or are you the one on the receiving end of corrections? The truth is that we have probably all been both. This time, let this article be the one clarifying the correct use of each of these common expressions. And, if it turns out you’ve been using one wrong for years… we won’t tell anyone.

Correct use: Pique my interest

The correct verb here is pique, which comes from French and means to stimulate or arouse curiosity. When something "pique[s] your interest," it sparks it.

"Peak" refers to the top of a mountain. Unless your curiosity is climbing Everest, that spelling doesn’t belong here.

Correct use: Giving leeway

The correct word is "leeway," meaning extra space, freedom, or margin for error. It comes from nautical language, referring to the sideways drift of a ship caused by wind.

"Leadway" does sound plausible, especially since "lead" can imply movement, but historically and etymologically, it’s leeway.

Correct use: Statute of limitations

A statute is a law. A statue is made of marble or bronze. It does make you wonder what people who use the incorrect version believe they are saying.

Correct use: Buck naked

While "butt naked" is very common in American speech, the earlier and historically supported form is buck naked, meaning completely unclothed.

Its use dates back to at least the early 1900s, some four decades before "butt naked" appeared in the late 1960s. One theory links a person’s smooth, naked skin to that of a buck, meaning a male deer.

Correct use: Nerve-racking

The original form is nerve-racking, from the verb "to rack," meaning to strain or torture, like on a medieval rack.

"Wreck" slipped in later because it sounds similar, but historically, the expression refers to nerves being strained, not destroyed.

Correct use: Old wives’ tale

The correct phrase dates back centuries and refers to traditional folklore or superstition passed down informally. "Wise" makes it sound flattering, but the original expression wasn’t meant as a compliment.

Correct use: On tenterhooks

A tenterhook was a hook used to stretch cloth on a frame called a tenter. Being "on tenterhooks" meant being stretched tight, which evolved into feeling anxious or in suspense. It has nothing to do with tenderness, so watch your pronunciation.

Correct use: Off your own bat

The phrase comes from cricket. To do something "off your own bat" means you did it on your own initiative. Over time, "bat" became "back," which sounds logical but loses the sports origin.

Correct use: White as a sheet

When someone looks pale, we say they’re "white as a sheet." Technically, you could still say you went white as a sheep, but you’d be referring to a darker, less uniformly white shade.

Correct use: Toe the line

This saying came originally from athletics, where runners literally placed their toes on the starting line. It means to conform or follow rules. Nothing is being towed… And how could you tow a line, anyway?

Correct use: Beck and call

The phrase dates back to the 1800s and means being ready to respond instantly to someone’s signal or command. "Beckon" feels logical, and it’s very close, but historically it’s "beck."

A what?

What is the name for the tip of your shoelaces?

While we typically go about life describing the end of our shoelaces as ‘the end of the shoelace’ or the whites of the egg as ‘egg whites’, these things, and many more, have names of their own, even if they are not always widely known or used. Let’s have a look at 11 common things that have proper names, even if no one uses them.

The little plastic or metal tip at the end of shoelaces or drawstrings is there to prevent the fibres from fraying, and to make it easier to pass the lace or drawstring through a hole. Its proper name is ‘aglet’, from the French aguillette, meaning ‘needle’, a reference to its use in helping to thread the string through the hole.

Erasers at the end of wooden pencils are not usually glued together, but they are instead held together by a little metal band. This band is called a ‘ferrule’—from Medieval Latin viriola or ‘little bracelet’—and the term can be used for any metal band that strengthens or fastens a joint, such as those used in handles, to hold brush bristles, or to secure a connection between two cables.

The ‘little plastic table on the pizza’ is quite a long name for something aptly named ‘pizza saver’, but no one seems to really care. It was invented in 1974 by an Argentine pizza maker, who named it SEPI or separador de pizza (‘pizza separator’). In America, it was patented as a ‘package saver’ in 1985, though it was later renamed ‘pizza saver’.

Most mathematical symbols have proper names that are not regularly used, and the division sign is no exception. It was officially introduced into mathematics as a symbol of division in 1659 by the Swiss mathematician Johann Rahn in his influential work Teutsche Algebra. This sign is called an ‘obelus’, from the Greek obelos, meaning ‘sharpened stick’ or ‘skewer’, as it was initially used as a pointer for questionable passages in a text.

Paper cups and their corresponding cardboard sleeves to protect our hands from the heat or the cold are relatively new, but their proper names are not—at least, the name for the cardboard sleeve. This holder is called a ‘zarf’, an Arabic (zuruuf) and Turkish (zarflar) word used for ornamented cup holders, usually made from metal. The materials and the details of the zarf have changed, but the purpose still remains.

Do we need a more technical term than ‘armhole’ for a hole meant for an arm to go through? Maybe not, but the technical term still exists. An ‘armscye’ (pronounced arm-sigh) is the proper term used in sewing and patterns to describe the opening on a garment where the sleeve is attached. The word is a compound of ‘arm’ + scye, a Scots word meaning ‘opening’. So, in the end, ‘armscye’ just means ‘armhole’.

We often use the words ‘railing’ or ‘handrail’ when talking about a staircase, but these terms only describe the top portion of it, not the pillars that support the handrail. The pillars and the rail altogether are called a ‘banister’, a corruption of the word baluster, derived from the Italian balaustro. The term originally was used for the pillars, but eventually came to mean the entire structure.

Not all beverage foams are equal. The foam on top of alcoholic beverages, in particular, is called ‘barm’, a term derived from Old English beorma, meaning ‘yeast’ or ‘leaven’, and it's mainly used for the effervescence of fermented liquors such as beer, ale, or wine.

Did you know that the white (or clear) part of the egg is called the ‘albumen’? The term entered English as a loan from Latin, where _albumen_—from albus, ‘white’—was used in the same way. Though it is not widely used in everyday life, it’s still the correct term for that part of the egg.

As a rule of thumb, you should always assume that all marks, symbols, and strokes in calligraphy have a proper name, even if it's not often used. When it comes to the lowercase letters ‘j’ and ‘i ’, the little dot on top is not a dot, but a ‘tittle’. This name comes from the Latin _titulus_—meaning ‘title’, ‘inscription’, or ‘small mark’—and was initially used by scribes to distinguish these letters in their cramped writing.

If you ever got lost in the mall or the museum, you must have come across a map that marked your location using an arrow or a pointer, usually accompanied by the phrase ‘you are here’. Well, that pointer is called an ‘ideolocator’, a combination of the Greek idea, a ‘mental image, concept, or visual representation’ (in this case, the pointer), and the Latin locatus, meaning ‘to place’ (the specific location on the map). For the sake of convenience, we will keep calling it the ‘you are here’ sign.