abuses for human-rights abuses

acute for acutely ill (acute beds)

aesthetic for aesthetically pleasing

agenda for hidden agenda

albatross for albatross round neck, or millstone (However, many scientists believe the project is a waste of money and will end up an albatross for the medical research community. Guardian February 23, 2006)

ashen for ashen faced, ashy pale (presumably pale grey like wood-ash)

astronomical As in "The cost was astronomical", meaning "astronomically high". From the vast numbers bandied about in astronomy.

attitude for bad or negative attitude

Augean task An Augean task is as difficult as cleaning out the Augean stables was for Hercules. He had to complete 10 (or was it 7?) labours, one of which was cleaning out these enchanted stables which became dirtier the more he toiled.

bitter “they will bitterly defend their young” New Scientist 29 April 06 From bitter quarrel? “Sold much of Broadway Market to private developer. Bitter evictions followed.” Evening Standard May 4, 2006 Bitterly contested?

bitter for bitterly quarrelling rather than embittered “has split Socialists into increasingly bitter factions”

blown out of proportion for blown up out of all proportion (like blowing up a photograph, not a bridge) Guardian December 31, 2005

breakneck growth for breakneck rate of growth

broached for broached the subject Have you broached x about y? Merriam Webster: to pierce (as a cask) in order to draw the contents; also : to open for the first time b : to open up or break into (as a mine or stores)) When you have broached something you have probably created a breach - once more into the etc.

brooding for “broodingly handsome”. Not at all the same thing as broody.

budget for low budget

bypass for heart bypass

calibre for high-calibre (a calibre cast)

chaise for chaise longue

chamber for chamber pot (obsolete.)

chaos    Thousands still await refunds for ash chaos, Guardian headline 16 Aug 10

character building for building good character. Character building experiences - like spending several years at boarding school or abseiling down a cliff face - are always assumed to encourage desirable character traits. A spell in prison might be character building, encouraging the development of aggression, deception, callousness etc. Or would this be destruction of character?

character for good character

charge for child (means child in your charge)

chauvinism for male chauvinism

cheese plant It’s a Swiss cheese plant because it’s full of holes like Gruyère.

chronic for chronically ill. (The hospital has a shortage of chronic beds.)

class for top class

comfortable for comfortably off

consummate for consummately wonderful, skilled etc

dappled for sun-dappled “Norman’s memoirs are clotted with such dappled memories.” Guardian Aug 29 02)

dealing for drug dealing

de facto for de facto standard

delirious for deliriously happy

devastated for emotionally devastated

diabolical for diabolically clever (diabolical plan)

diet for slimming diet

drained for drained of all emotion

dramatically for far, much (dramatic difference, was dramatically more than - from dramatic increase)

ecstatic for ecstatically happy

egregious for boring, obnoxious, incongruous, egregiously offensive (egregious means outstanding)

emissions for greenhouse gas emissions

en suite for en suite bathroom

entrenched for conservative, presumably from deeply entrenched attitudes

environmental (as in environmental area) for environmentally friendly

equality for gender equality

etched His face is more deeply etched nowadays. Guardian Aug 29 02. (Facial lines more deeply etched?)

exorbitant/extortionate for exorbitantly/extortionately expensive Exorbitant means immoderate, extortionate means extracted by extortion. (sweatshop labour produced extortionate garments)

explicit for explicitly sexual

explosion for population explosion "An explosion of gerbils is decimating vast areas of grasslands in China's north-western Xinjiang region, with some of the prairies completely destroyed by hundreds of rodent burrows. " BBC

extreme political views for extreme left wing views (which Michael Gove says teachers can’t have)

family values for nuclear family values

fanning concerns/hostility for fanning the flames of concern, hostility

farrago for farrago of nonsense

fashion scarves for high fashion

fossil-centred industrial model for fossil-fuel-centred

fraught for fraught with tension (fraught means freighted or loaded)

fume for fume with anger

genetic food for genetically modified food

geometrically for in geometrical progression? “After all, most of the acclaimed scientific advances today could prove to be gross errors a century from now, when our knowledge may have leaped geometrically beyond today’s boundaries.”

given a new lease for new lease of life

glaring for glaringly obvious

graphic for graphically violent or sexual (he made a graphic gesture)

gratuitous for gratuitously violent or sexual (gratuitous means unnecessary) unnecessarily gratuitous - this is also a tautology

haute for haute monde (or maybe couture)

high ground for moral high ground

human rights for human-rights abuses

illegal for illegal immigrant

impeccable for impeccably dressed, impeccable taste

indelible for memorable indelibly etched on the memory?

internecine for riddled with internecine strife (an internecine society)

It is over-riding that for "it is an overriding consideration that"

jaundiced I'm feeling rather jaundiced today It’s your outlook that’s jaundiced – the opposite of rose-coloured specs.

jockeying for jockeying for position (competing)

livid for angry (livid with rage) Livid means bruise-coloured, reddish or pale.

 

loitering with intent for loitering with intent to commit a criminal offence

lush for lushly forested

marital affairs for extramarital affairs

mental health for mental health problems “A helpline for mental health sufferers...” Hackney Gazette Jan 29 03 (they mean mental illness) “Reforms pledged on mental health of children” Guardian headline September 14, 2004 (they mean reforms pledged on treatment of mental ill-health in children)

microclimate for warm microclimate (Teignmouth has its own microclimate!)

militant for militantly left-wing

mothy for motheaten

narrow victory/defeat for win/lose by a narrow margin

narrowly won for won by a narrow margin

on edge for teeth on edge ("The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge."Bible)

overwhelming for overwhelming majority

overwhelmingly for ‘in overwhelming numbers. "Who overwhelmingly causes road accidents? Men."

oxygen for oxygen of publicity “Other events have provided unmerited oxygen for the moribund hypothesis."

palpable for palpably obvious

pandering for pandering to popular taste, mass taste, our worst instincts “Like Doris Day’s manager-husband, Marty Melcher, who took a sultry jazz singer and reduced her to pandering infantilism, compelling her to sing only ‘bouncy tunes’.” New York Review of Books Sept 03 “Robert Altman refuses to submit his audience to all that low, pandering amusement." Guardian November 21, 2003 It’s one thing to pander and obstruct when you are out of power – NYT Nov 10 (presumably “pander to public tastes, pander to the lowest common denominator”) The original Pandarus, in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, was a pimp.

paramount for of paramount importance

personality for acceptable personality (outgoing, entertaining, eye-catching)

pollinate for cross-pollinate

prejudice for adverse prejudice (you might be prejudiced in someone's favour)

prohibitive for prohibitively expensive

public outpouring for public outpouring of grief (or just “outpouring” for Diana Syndrome)

pungent for pungently smelling (pungent means sharp)

quality of life for poor quality of life – used to mean "There is no point keeping this person alive any more".

rabid for rabidly enthusiastic, furious etc ("Siskel and Ebert developed such a rabid audience that a simple thumbs-up could give life to the lamest of films." Guardian July 21 2000

race relations for good race relations

radiant for radiantly happy

ravenous for ravenously hungry

reality for reality TV (“Reality isn’t just mediocre, puerile and pointless, said Humphrys, it’s actually damaging.” Guardian Sept 2, 2004)

regime for totalitarian regime “Thirteen years ago some of us were living under regimes ourselves.”  Hungarian soldier

relentless, remorseless    Short visits are relentless (relentlessly busy, you work on a relentless schedule) Remorseless (onslaught, progress) Try substituting “unforgiving” and see if the sentence still makes sense.

rending for heart-rending (rend = tear)

riveting for fascinating (my attention was riveted)

rocked for rocked to its foundations

saddled for saddled with the image of

seamy for on the seamy side of life ("seamy divorce" Observer July 16 00) Seams are hidden inside a garment – the "seamy side" isn't meant to be seen.

seething for seething with rage

self-esteem for esteeming yourself highly

skeletal for skeletally thin

slavish for slavishly naturalistic/realistic/imitative “The Tory part has for the past year been characterised by slavish attempts to be cool and modern.” Guardian September 17, 2002

smash hit becomes smash, dashboard dash, trench coat trench

softcore for pornographic in a softcore kind of way

solve child poverty for solve the problem of child poverty

spanking for brand spanking new

spectacularly for spectacularly well (it worked spectacularly)

stony for fell on stony ground “Even they have found stony acceptance other than among educated  speakers.”

strapped for cash strapped

street for the word on the street (American)

Stygian for Stygian gloom

substance abuse for illegal substance abuse

tenuous With an ongoing hostage crisis and daily violence, the situation in Iraq is still tenuous. CNN (They’re thinking of “tenuous connection” and maybe think it means “dodgy” rather than “thin, slight”.)

terminal for terminally ill

the local grammar for grammar school

theatre for theatre of war (American generals)

theory for literary theory

tide for rising tide "Police Struggle Against Tide of Child Porn on Internet" Dallas Morning News (11/27/99)

toll for death toll LUNG CANCER TOLL WORSENED BY ATTITUDES (Independent) Toll Rises in Asian Quake (CNN)

trafficking for people or drug trafficking

trauma for psychological trauma

travesty for travesty of justice

twin room for twin bedded room

value sweaters for good value

vanishing for vanishingly small

writing for writing on the wall (The writing's pretty grim.)