A word about words.

Few things derail my concentration faster than a malapropism. The moment someone says "for all intensive purposes" or "should of done", a small part of my brain quietly disconnects from whatever they were actually saying and starts composing a correction it will never deliver.

It's not snobbery — or at least, I tell myself it isn't. Language evolves, rules bend, and plenty of pedants are insufferable. But malapropisms aren't evolution. They're inherited mistakes, passed along unchecked, often by people who would be mortified to know they'd been saying something nonsensical for years.

The real damage is reputational. I've watched otherwise brilliant people lose authority in a room the moment they said someone is "chomping at the bit" or promised to "nip it in the butt". Heroes have fallen. Presentations have unravelled. Job interviews have, I suspect, quietly ended.

This page is my attempt at a public service. Learn them, share them, and for the love of all things good — stop saying "the proof is in the pudding."