I've gone my entire mature life saying "with bated breath" without really knowing what it means or how to spell it. I went to type it in an e-mail and had to think for 1/2 a second about whether it is "baited" (which I knew was wrong) or "bated." Then, I realized I wasn't sure what it means. If I had thought for a minute instead of instantly leaping to Merriam-Webster OnLine, I think I could have figured out that it is a derivation of "abated, " to reduce the force or intensity of .
But, since I leaped before I thought, we'll never know if I really knew that or not.
2 comments:
I'm really glad you posted this--I'd never have guessed! Having never thought to consult a reference word (for shame, my librarian self!), I just always pictured those waiting with "baited" breath breathing out their pent-up waiting-frustration when exhaling the stench of worms and dead minnows.
It's quite a visual.
I was going to make some sort of pun about "bait" in my original post, but it wouldn't have been as descriptive as yours.
Post a Comment