James Baquet

    Mark is chatting with his classmate Ming in the common room of their dorm.

    Ming: Hi, Mark. Can you help me with something?

    Mark: Sure! What is it?

    Ming: My teacher returned a paper, and she underlined some things but didn’t explain what was wrong. She told me to correct the mistakes and turn it in again.

    Mark: I see. You want me to take a look?

    Ming: Would you?

    Mark: Gladly. Let’s see... “The customers were taken care of on a first-come, first-serve basis.” Aha! It’s “first come, first served,” not “serve.”

    Ming: Why?

    Mark: Think of it this way: “The first one to come will be the first one served.” The way you wrote it, it sounds like the first one to come will serve the others who come later!

    Ming: Oh, that makes sense. I never heard the “d.”

    Mark: Right. As I look at your paper, I think most of the problems are things you misheard.

    Ming: You mean “heard wrong?”

    Mark: That’s right. Here’s another: “Proper customer service can give a business owner piece of mind.” It should be p-e-a-c-e of mind.

    Ming: Wait. Isn’t there an idiom about “a piece of my mind?”

    Mark: Yes! We use that to describe scolding someone. “I was late to work, so my boss gave me a piece of his mind.” But that’s different.

    Ming: I see. What’s next?

    Mark: You wrote that good training would “wet the employees’ appetite” for more learning.

    Ming: What’s wrong with that?

    Mark: “Wet” means “put water on it.” “Whet”— with an “h”— means “sharpen,” or in this case “increase.” When someone wants to sharpen a knife, they might rub it against something called a “whetstone,” a stone used for sharpening.

    Ming: And what’s the connection to “whet one’s appetite?”

    Mark: As I suggested, “whet” or “sharpen” is a metaphor meaning to “increase.”

    Ming: Oh, like an appetizer before dinner should make us hungry for the main course.

    Mark: Yes. Here’s another good one: “Every team needs a manager and a sort of cheerleader. Sometimes they can be one in the same.”

    Ming: What’s wrong?

    Mark: It’s “one and the same.”

    Ming: Isn’t that just repeating an idea?

    Mark: Sure, for emphasis. “The manager and the cheerleader are one person” and “the manager and the cheerleader are the same person,” all in one short phrase.

    Ming: Got it. I think there are a lot of expressions that repeat an idea, right?

    Mark: Yes, there are. When people say “false pretenses,” it’s redundant. All pretenses are false!

    Ming: And maybe calling someone a “head honcho?” Because “honcho” means “head person,” so we don’t need “head” again?

    Mark: Exactly.

    Ming: Thanks, Mark.

    Mark: Sure!