Improper Phrase Pet Peeves

MISUSED PHRASE: THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING
CORRECT PHRASE: The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
The misused version is utter nonsense, while the original, proper form makes sense. You will know if the pudding is good when you eat it, and equally one will know if the item/situation is proper when one is using/involved in it.

MISUSED PHRASE: COULD CARE LESS
CORRECT PHRASE: Couldn’t care less
If you *could* care less about something, it means you *do* care about it. If you *couldn’t* care less about it, then you don’t care at all.

MISUSED PHRASE: UP AND ADAM
CORRECT PHRASE: Up and at ’em
Again, the former makes no sense, while the latter does. With “’em” of course being a contraction of “them.”

MISUSED PHRASE: ONCE AND AWHILE
CORRECT PHRASE: Once in a while
Every now and then. The conjunction “and” does not fit in the above phrase. The phrase refers to something that happens once in a given, limited (but unspecified) period of time (“while”).

I’m sure there are more, but these are the ones that came to mind at the moment. This might become a regular feature of this blog!