« The Obesity/Gasoline Relationship | Main | Alcohol and Airplanes: What's the Over/Under? »
Latest Stories
- Interview with a (Fake) Hedge Fund Manager
- Reason # 7,732 Why Yahoo Management is Delusional
- First Faux Apple 3G iPhone Teardown
- New York as (Financial) Tech Startup Hub
- Companies Mutate or Die
September 12, 2007
Language Nit: Fleshed Out vs. Flushed Out
My language usage nit of the day is about the phrase "flushed out". Here is an example from today's WSJ in an interview with an Apple fan who has not yet bought an iPhone:Mr. Clark says he fell in love with the iPhone's user interface but has yet to purchase the phone. "I thought it was a little too early to jump into the technology," Mr. Clark says. "I'm waiting for things to get flushed out." [Emphasis mine]I see this one regularly, but he has it wrong. Birds or foxes can be flushed out of a thicket; an idea can be fleshed out by adding more detail or information. Mr. Clark shouldn't be using the former phrase, unless he is implying there is a new iPhone hiding in the wings that he's hoping to scare into sight.
Then again, the phrase "fleshed out", while closer to appropriate, isn't entirely right in the context either. He probably mixed up his cliches, meaning to say something like "shake the bugs out", etc.
I now return you to your regular non-language programming,
Sphere It
| 
Digg it
| 
Bookmark it
| 
Stumble it
Seems fine to me, Paul. "things" == "bugs".
So, the statement is, "I'm waiting for the bugs to get flushed out." That means, "I'm waiting for the bugs to be emptied or cleared."
Speaking of...when in the past few years did people cease to understand the difference between lose and loose?
Every day I read something to the effect of "...we are loosing this war" and I am quite certain that the author didn't mean "we are letting out the war."
My personal favorite (being an RN) is when people are placed on a respirator. A respirator is used when you don't want to inhale paint fumes. Ventilators help you breath. It's my very own pet peeve.
maybe he swallowed a powdered white substance which he is waiting to pass.when sold he can buy lots and lots of phones.
ahh yes and what about the athletic communities' ban on adverbs. Serious__, watch a sports show and try to find one adverb.