Okay, so this very well may just be me, but does anyone else notice how the wording of certain expressions and phrases sometimes suddenly changes—like, almost overnight? Case in point: the phrase “by accident.” I don’t hear people say this much anymore. It seems like everyone’s now saying “on accident.” Not that this difference matters all that much. But when did it start? And why??

Other examples:

● “based off of,” instead of the formerly-more-common (and still-used-by-me) “based on”

● “all of the sudden,” instead of “all of a sudden”

● “literally” as a word of emphasis, instead of “seriously” or something like that. (As in, “It’s literally raining so hard right now.”)

The fact that I notice bizarre things like this just may be why I love the Lerner series It’s Just an Expression (cover pictured). It delves into expressions like “at the eleventh hour” or “keep your eye on the ball” and explains what they mean and where they came from. Fascinating stuff!

What expressions fascinate you, blog readers? Have you noticed any of them changing over time? Do share, because I always love hearing from you guys…literally!