Is there a word for mangled idiom that becomes commonplace

posted 3 months ago

gedaliyah@lemmy.world

asklemmy@lemmy.world

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Like “does the Pope shit in the woods?” or “that train has sailed?”

Also, what good examples can you think of?

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Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world

6 points

3 months ago

But PERC, the chemical used in “dry cleaning” is NOT a dry liquid, so the existence of dry liquids is also not relevant to their example.

I can’t figure out if the confusion is caused by unfamiliarity with the term dry cleaning, or just a feeble grasp of logic.

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NielsBohron@lemmy.world

1 point

3 months ago

PERC

Perchloroethylene (aka tetrachloroethene) is a completely non-polar compound, so, yes, it is a dry liquid.

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Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world

2 points

3 months ago

Fair enough. My initial quick google research implied otherwise.

I’m not claiming to be an expert, although I’m not finding anything that uses the term dry liquid to refer to Tetrachloroethylene. Sounds to me like another misnomer. But, I won’t say you’re wrong.

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