Most of them have been in usage for so long that the incorrect way of saying them has actually become the norm...
1. What is your good name?
One of the most commonest mistakes, this term simply means, “What's your name?” This is often a direct, word for word translation of the same phrase in Hindi, “Aapka shubh naam?” Shubh translates to good and most Indians translate the phrase without bothering to make alterations.
2. Passing out of college
The normal world uses ‘graduation’ or 'convocation'. Indian English makes it, “I passed out of my college.” If you pass out in the US, Australia or the UK, you would probably be rushed to a hospital, not lauded.
3. On tender hooks
Correct version: ‘On tenterhooks’
Tender hooks? Surely, whatever you might say about hooks, tender they aren't. Once again, we get caught out by an archaic word that isn't used outside this expression. This time the word is ‘tenter’, a wooden frame used to dry cloth. The wet cloth was fixed to the frame with hooks, hence the expression.
So, ‘on tenterhooks’ means 'under stress or tension' and it is easy to see how it came to be used as a general term for anxiety or uneasiness.
4. Wet your appetite
Correct version: ‘Whet your appetite’
Here's another of those archaic words —’whet’, what's that? Well, 'whet' means to sharpen or put a fine point on something. So, 'whet your appetite' means to sharpen your desire for food.
Examples: Seeing that film really whetted my sister's appetite for horror films. She now sees as many as possible.
The first chapter of that novel really whetted my appetite — I'm eager to read more of it tonight.
Confusingly, although we ‘whet our appetite’ we ‘wet our whistle'. In that case our 'whistle' means our voice or throat and 'wet' has its usual meaning. So, to 'wet our whistle' is to have a drink.
5. First come, first serve
Correct version: “First come, first served”
‘First come, first serve’ seems to suggest that the person who arrives first serves the latecomers. Not so; the expression means pretty much the opposite, that is, the first to arrive gets served first.
‘First come, first served’ is a proverbial expression which is itself is a shortened form of the earlier proverb 'he that comes first to the mill grinds first', which is found in Chaucer's 14th century ‘The Wife of Bath's Tale’.
6. Free reign
Correct version: ‘Free rein’
‘Free reign’ is a pretty straightforward misinterpretation and a plausible mistake to make. We have a notion of reigning kings and queens doing as they please, that is, they have free reign. Nevertheless, that isn’t correct.
The ‘rein’ in this expression is the strap used by a rider to control a horse. To give a horse ‘free rein’ is to allow it to run as it will, without restriction.
The misspelling ‘free reign’ dates back to the 1880s, so there's little chance to expunge it from the language; we can, but try.
7. Off your own back
Correct version: ‘Off your own bat’
This phrase is often used to refer to something done using one’s own initiative.
But in origin it is a cricketing idiom, and should correctly be ‘off your own bat’ – distinguishing runs scored through the batsman's skill from ‘extras’ accrued without hitting the ball (byes, wides, no-balls, overthrows).
This phrase is one of many cricketing idioms in regular use in English. The traditional association of cricket with fair play and good sportsmanship has given rise to expressions such as ‘play with a straight bat’, meaning to behave honestly, and ‘it’s just not cricket’, to refer to any behaviour that flouts common standards of decency.
If we find ourselves in a tricky situation we may be ‘stumped’, or ‘on a sticky wicket’.
8. Sneak peak
Correct version: ‘Sneak peek’
Just a spelling mistake, probably encouraged by the 'eak' ending of 'sneak'.
‘Peak’ and ‘peek’ sound the same but a peak is the top of a mountain top, while a peek is a quick look. The correct expression is 'sneak peek', meaning a furtive or early look at something. ‘Sneak peak’ might be appropriate if you are trying to smuggle a mountain top past immigration guards, otherwise it's ‘sneak peek’.
9. 7 am in the morning
The phrase ‘7 am in the morning’ is wrong because of the redundancy of the word morning.
You are indicating the time of the day when you say ‘am’ or ‘pm’, so it is unnecessary to repeat it.
Therefore, the correct sentences would be:
I wake up at 7 am.
NOT
I wake up at 7 am in the morning.
And
I go to bed at 11 pm.
NOT
I go to bed at 11 pm at night.
10. ATM Machine
The full form of ATM is Automated Teller Machine. So the next time you say ATM machine, think of its full form and ask yourself how this sentence would sound:
‘I need to withdraw some money from the Automated Teller Machine machine.’
11. Damp squid
Correct version: “Damp squib”
Squid are almost always damp, in fact we don’t think you’ve ever seen a dry one. That, and the obscurity of the word squib, is possibly what created this mistake.
Squibs are fireworks and damp ones are likely to lead to disappointment, hence the expression ‘damp squib’.
12. By purpose, on accident
Correct version: On purpose, by accident There is no specific rule that says either of these are correct. However, the more widely accepted version of the phrases are ‘on purpose’ and ‘by accident.’ If you don’t care about getting wet in the rain, you can say, “I left my umbrella at home on purpose.” The phrase ‘by accident’ can be explained if you expand the phrase. If you didn’t mean to trip, then you trip ‘by way of an’ accident. That’s why you would say, “I tripped by accident.”
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