Please state in which country your phrase tends to be used, what the phrase is, and what it should be.

Example:

In America, recently came across “back-petal”, instead of back-pedal. Also, still hearing “for all intensive purposes” instead of “for all intents and purposes”.

    • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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      2 years ago

      Quiet can mean either low volume or silent. So it’s saying the silent part out loud-- there’s no contradiction here.

        • flubba86@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          You’re wrong. In this expression, the “quiet” part means the “unsaid” part. If someone tells you a secret, and they say “please keep that quiet”, it means “don’t tell anyone”. If you’re driving in the car and the kids are being rowdy in the back seat, you would say “keep quiet back there”, it means “shut your mouth”.

          To say the quiet part out loud, means “you said the thing you intended to keep unsaid”.

    • theherk@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      I think it is common to distinguish between whispering something and saying it out loud or aloud. Like if you say something private in a theatre louder than meant, your date might say, “Shh, you said that out loud.” Otherwise “out loud” would have no place at all as “say” alone would cover this meaning.

      You’re right about the saying, but I think that explains the malapropism.