Rant.

[pensnest]

Aaaaauuuuugh!

It's reins, people. Reins. R - E - I - N - S. Reins.

Not 'reigns'.

A king reigns. He rules. Or, something happens during his reign. He does not 'hold the reigns'. He reigns. If you want it as a noun, try 'the reigns of such-and-such a king and such-and-such a queen were distinguished for...'

Oh, whatever. It isn't 'holding the reigns', or 'leading reign'. Those ought to be 'holding the reins', and 'leading rein', which, when you actually think about it, are expressions that make SENSE. Because reins are those things which are used for steering a horse, or even a team of horses. Holding the reins means being in charge, doing the driving, being in control. Keeping things on a tight rein means being very firmly in control. A leading rein is something used for, oh, I dunno, leading a horse along - being in control!

What, for heaven's sake, would 'a tight reign' MEAN?

The really, really sad thing about this is not the way so many people use these phrases without even thinking about whether they are writing something that makes sense. The really sad thing is that in a generation or so from now, 'holding the reigns' will probably be the only phrase around, and it's stupid and untextured and downright nonsensical, but it'll be the only thing anyone ever reads and everyone will assume that it's RIGHT.

Augh.

And while we're at it, I know 'nerve-wracking' looks pretty, but the expression is 'nerve-racking'. Possibly, though I dare not guarantee this, derived from the nasty habit of racking unfortunate - okay, putting people on the rack. Stretching them. Putting them under strain. Even if that isn't the derivation, it's memorable and on the right lines. Nerve-racking, eh? 'Wrack' is an archaic form of 'wreck', and sweetie, that isn't what you were trying to say, or if it was, you'd be better off with 'nerve-wrecking' but only if you have solid-gold convinced your reader that you *know* what you're doing with the English language.

Dear me. Too much fanfic and not enough chocolate.

On the good side of this week, dear Adam is being made miserable again. Goody!

Comments

[rikes]

Too much fanfic and not enough chocolate.

I know! Typos and other mistakes can be really distracting.

[pensnest]

If it were only typos. Sigh.

[pensnest]

In fact, I thought about it after posting my reply above, and realised that popslash is very good in that respect - people obviously care enough about writing to eradicate most of the typos, and other mistakes (eg saying 'him and I' when it should be 'him and me') are less jarring when you can be charitable and assume that the mistake is the character's, not the writer's.

But reigns/reins... that's been getting on my wick for *years* now.

[rikes]

You have a point! But reigns/reins is unforgivable.

[chrismm.livejournal.com]

Yes, along with "pour over his notes" No, no, it's "pore over his notes"!!! *twitches*

[lilysaid.livejournal.com]

Hi. :) I was just popping over to check out your journal, and I had to put in my 2 cents. Because nerve-wracking is actually an accepted spelling of nerve-racking, and "wrack" can mean "to ruin," which is a pretty good description of someone's nerves if they're going through a "nerve-wracking" situation.

*runs away*

[pensnest]

Bah! Not according to temporarily-enthroned-language-god Bill Bryson it ain't. (By which I mean, I keep his book 'Troublesome Words' in the downstairs loo. Every home should have at least one toilet roll holder with magazine rack.) Anyway, I still like 'racking' better, as it gives that sense that the nerves are being stretched to breaking point. So there!

[lilysaid.livejournal.com]

And I shall continue to torture everyone with WRACK! :P

As much as "wrack" bothers you, "baited breath" bothers me. What's worse is that it's been misused so much that it's now become an accepted usage but it's just so wrong! I'm too lazy to look up the little poem about it but as a grammar enthusiast I trust you know what I'm talking about. :)

[pensnest]

I read a 'no my breath isn't baited, there's no worm on my tongue' comment from someone - possibly Torch? - earlier this evening. N-i-c-e image. Or might the breath be baited if someone had eaten a strawberry, or chocolate, or rose-flavoured ice-cream (swoon) with seduction in mind? Trouble is, you can only do that kind of play on language if people *actually use the correct phrase*, grr!

On the whole, I think the 'baited breath' probably bothers me more than 'wrack', which is after all a nicely archaic word, even if (see above).

[lilysaid.livejournal.com]

Hee! yes.

The poem I think I was talking about (though I thought it was written by a woman, for some reason) is by Geoffery Taylor.

Sally, having swallowed cheese,
Directs down holes the scented breeze,
Enticing thus with baited breath
Nice mice to an untimely death.

[pensnest]

Hah! *cackles* Excellent!

[slaymesoftly.livejournal.com]

LOL with the reign/rein thing! I fear you may be (sadly) correct. I've ranted on it twice and I still see it all the time. Sigh. But I'm not going down without a fight!!!

"...would a tight reign mean?" Um, everybody is drunk? LOL

And thank you for the rack/wrack - I would have been among the dissenters (except I looked them up in the dictionary. lol).

[pensnest]

I fear the rein/reign thing is being miswritten by even good writers these days. But the fight must go on!

Rack/wrack is a lot more iffy, and I must confess to being somewhat uncertain of it myself. But I do think the 'on the rack' association helps.