Re:Ow My Foot (Score 1)

The problem is less that the modern use is unintelligible, and more that by using it, the original purpose of the phrase is not being associated with it any longer. The effect of allowing the phrase to degrade into ever broader meanings is the same as allowing a workman's tools to rust out in the rain, it deprives user's of the craft a necessary tool. Users of formal logic suffer from this misuse, not Joe the Plumber. Also, this "Saying that common English words lose their everyday meaning when used in that particular order begs the question: why would they? Telling someone they're wrong because of your theory that these words have magically lost their ordinary meaning begs the question." pains me deeply. You knew what you were doing there, and that's just plain mean.