The pd.o Guide to Grammar

Where words and phrases come from.

Word origins are important. Though languages evolve with time, given the choice between the original word (or phrase), and a gross perversion that has perpetuated itself in the ignorance of the masses long enough to become acceptable English, we at the pd.o choose the former. The pd.o Guide to the Phrase serves as our record of proper grammar, spelling, and word and phrase origins.

Before the bug-lovers in the crowd start getting all excited, note that this is a guide to etymology, not entomology. The former is the study of word or phrase origins. The latter is the study of bugs.

alot
This is just boneheaded spelling, perpetuated by Usenet, email, and the Internet in general. If you mean to say a whole bunch, then the phrase you are looking for is a lot. If you mean to assign a share, or portion of something, then you mean allot.
bated breath

Shakespeare seems to have coined this one, contracting the word abated. It is commonly (and incorrectly) written as baited breath, which makes sense only if you are going fishing by swallowing worms, or mouse hunting by eating cheese.4

Begs the question

Begging the question is the “fallacy of founding a conclusion on a basis that as much needs to be proved as the conclusion itself.”5 It has nothing at all to do with interrogative sentences, and most certainly does not mean “raises the question.”

in that vein

I have seen this phrase written as both in that vain and in that vane. Both are just plain wrong. One of the definitions of vein, and the one implied by this phrase is a distinctive mode of expression; a distinctive element or quality; a line of thought or action. 3

jury-rigged

Meaning a makeshift or temporary construction, jury-rigged is of nautical origin, referring to a temporary mast constructed when the original is damaged (or lost) in a storm.

jury-rigged is often misstated as jerry-rigged. The confusion seems to stem from the phrase jerry-built, meaning shoddily constructed. 1

moot point

Moot is a legal term, dating back to the mid-16th century, that refers to a hypothetical case argued by law students. A moot point was therefore a point open to debate. The fact that these arguments were largely hypothetical seem to have led to use of the phrase to mean "of little or no significance."

An increasingly common error is the use of the phrase mute point in this second context. Though it could be argued that this phrase is closer to the intended meaning (not worth debating), "mute point" is utterly and horribly wrong, except perhaps as a very specific pun.

rack my/your brain
Though the phrase wrack my/your brain is in common usage, rack is the original form. It appears to be derived from the Germanic rak meaning to stretch or strain. wrack generally means something misery-related, such as destruction or wreckage. 2

References

1 Michael Quinion, World Wide Words. http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-jur1.htm

2 Kenneth G. Wilson. The Columbia guide to standard American English. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-231-06988-X. http://www.bartleby.com/68/53/4953.html

3 Merriam Webster Dictionary (online)

4 Michael Quinion, World Wide Words. http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-bai1.htm

5 Mark Israel, the alt.usage.english FAQ.

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