Let alone

[nq:1]What exactly does "let alone" mean in this example? Bishops shouldn't be having *** at all, let alone gay ***. This turn of phrase is very common where I live, but I can't parse it. Is "let" a verb here? Subjunctive maybe?[/nq]
From AHD (under 'let'):
idioms. let alone. Not to mention; much less: ?Their ancestors had been dirt poor and never saw royalty, let alone hung around with th

[nq:1]What exactly does "let alone" mean in this example? Bishops shouldn't be having *** at all, let alone gay ***. This turn of phrase is very common where I live, but I can't parse it. Is "let" a verb here? Subjunctive maybe?[/nq]
It's a verb of the exhortative type. Here, "let alone" is no idiom, because the words bear their natural meanings, more or less.

Matti

[nq:1]What exactly does "let alone" mean in this example? Bishops shouldn't be having *** at all, let alone gay ***. This turn of phrase is very common where I live, but I can't parse it. Is "let" a verb here? Subjunctive maybe?[/nq]
"Let" is a verb, but since this is an idiom, details of its precise usage are hard to determine. Perhaps it's enough to point out that one ordinary meaning of "to

[nq:2]What exactly does "let alone" mean in this example? Bishops ... can't parse it. Is "let" a verb here? Subjunctive maybe?[/nq]
[nq:1]"Let" is a verb, but since this is an idiom, details of its precise usage are hard to determine. Perhaps ... let alone" is "to not mention", or, with unsplit infinitive, "not to mention", and that's the sense of the idiom.[/nq]
Perhaps this lack of clari

(snip discussion of "let alone")
[nq:1]Perhaps this lack of clarity accounts for some people hearing it as "little own", and subsequently writing that (see Google).[/nq]
That's a good one. You got me to start updating my list of those sort of change-mistakes, like "hare's breath" for "hair's breadth," but, actually, while looking for examples of your suggestion, "little own," I got waylaid

[nq:1]That's a good one. You got me to start updating my list of those sort of change-mistakes, like "hare's breath" for "hair's breadth," ...[/nq]
Hi Donna,
does your list have:
'tact' for 'tack' ("We'll try another tact")
'interm' for 'interim', though 'interm' may have become acceptable in some circles (not mine) by now
?

John W Hall (Email Removed)
Cochrane, Al

[nq:1]That's a good one. You got me to start updating my list of those sort of change-mistakes, like "hare's breath" for "hair's breadth."[/nq]
Duck tape!

[nq:2]That's a good one. You got me to start updating my list of those sort of change-mistakes, like "hare's breath" for "hair's breadth."[/nq]
[nq:1]Duck tape![/nq]
Isn't "Duck Tape" the original, and "duct tape" the error?

Matti

[nq:2]Duck tape![/nq]
[nq:1]Isn't "Duck Tape" the original, and "duct tape" the error?[/nq]
Looks that way.
See: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/ducttape.htm

Some of it is still sold that way:

Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus73

[nq:2]Isn't "Duck Tape" the original, and "duct tape" the error?[/nq]
[nq:1]Looks that way. See: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/ducttape.htm[/nq]
Confusingly, has this:
"Some say this early product was nicknamed "duct tape" because it repelled water like the bird's fea