Beyond the pail

When mispronounced or misspelled, many common words and expressions suggest silly pictures that can help you to remember the right way to say or spell them. Here are three of my favorite examples:

beyond the pail (instead of beyond the pale)

The correct version, “beyond the pale,” originated centuries ago in Europe and referred to an actual fence or implied boundary (The Pale) around an area of land controlled by ruling forces. Areas outside – or beyond – The Pale were considered hostile or dangerous territory. The expression now means outside the boundaries of accepted, or civilized, behavior. At no time in history were buckets involved.

wreckless driving (instead of reckless driving)

Reckless (without the w) describes a situation in which a driver disregards the rules, behaving carelessly and irresponsibly behind the wheel. Reckless drivers often cause accidents. A wreckless driver (with a w) has no accidents and is the opposite of reckless.

A reckless driver is probably not wreckless for long. That’s English for you.

half-hazard (instead of haphazard)

The correct word, haphazard, means unplanned, irregular, or random. Aimless, dependent on chance. If you’re tempted to say or spell half-hazard, just picture one of these: Remember: Wreckless and half-hazard, unless they describe one of these pictures, are beyond the pale.

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