Sunday, March 3, 2013

"Peeling" or "Pealing"?

For years, a car that takes off in a showy, fast departure with squealing tires has been said to "peel out." It seems the origin of the expression is that a person who does this is literally laying down rubber . . . "peeling" it off your tires!

However, twice this past week I have come across the term "peal out" being used instead. Upon a little deeper investigation, it seems apparent that people have misunderstood the term, thinking it refers to the sound the tires make (like a bell "pealing") rather than the peeling of rubber. 

New online "authority" sites such as freedictionary and urbandictionary have simply accepted the new phrase as authentic and added it to our collective vocabularies, providing one of the best examples to date of how linguistic errors made by enough people eventually become acceptable.

3 comments:

  1. I thought it was "pealing out" because pealing refers to a sound, like the peal of the bells, or peals of laughter. But I wasn't sure. That's why I checked your blog! Michele @ myvirtualenglish

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    1. Wow, a real person who actually saw my blog! Cool! :D I was really surprised when I first came across "pealing out" being substituted for "peeling out," but I think the new expression is starting to replace the traditional one. Some other similar homophonic substitutions I've been seeing a lot lately are "wetted my appetite" (instead of "whetted") and "peaked my curiosity" (instead of "piqued.")

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  2. I found your blog too, because I'm an author and I'm researching this exact thing. Thanks for your post! :) - CJW

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