Five phrases are often written wrong because one word in them sounds like another: pique (not peak) your interest, toe (not tow) the line, peace (not piece) of mind, tongue-in-cheek (not tongue and cheek), and sleight (not slight) of hand. This guide explains what each phrase means, where it comes from, and how to use it correctly.
The way you express yourself matters, and even more so when you write for work. When you use a phrase incorrectly, readers notice, and they may doubt the rest of what you say. Learn these five, and you avoid some of the most common slips in English.
1. "Pique my interest" vs. "peak my interest"
Pique came into English from French in the 16th century. The French verb piquer means "to prick, sting, or pierce".
Synonyms: arouse, stir, spark, attract, excite, intrigue.
When something piques your interest, it catches your attention and makes you curious. Once your interest is piqued, you want to learn more about whatever caught it.
Examples:
- The invention piqued the interest of other directors, who later used it in their own films.
- She piqued his interest in the theater and often took him to see plays.
Pique can also mean "to irritate" or "to hurt someone's pride".
Example:
- Their rudeness piqued me.
Most often, though, it is your interest or curiosity that gets piqued. In older English, to pique yourself on something means to take pride in it, as in this sentence:
- She piques herself on her acting skills.
Peak is a different word:
- as a noun, it is the pointed top of a mountain;
- as a verb, it means to reach the highest point, of a value or at a time;
- as an adjective, it means at the highest level, maximum.
Since peak means the top, the highest point, it is easy to see why people confuse it with pique, as in this wrong example:
- I nearly always notice something different that will peak my curiosity.
But "pique my interest" is not about the moment your excitement reaches its high point. It simply describes the moment something grabs your attention and stirs your curiosity. A third spelling, "peek my interest", is wrong too: to peek is to take a quick look.
2. "Toe the line" vs. "tow the line"
Picture runners at the start of a race, their toes right on the starting line. That is where this phrase comes from.
Today, toe the line means to do what is expected of you: to meet a standard, follow the rules, and conform. According to Wikipedia, "toe the line" is an idiom that means either to conform to a rule or standard, or to stand ready at the starting line of a footrace. In the early 1800s, the phrases "toe the mark" and "toe the plank" had the same meaning.
Examples:
- If you want to get ahead, you had better learn to toe the line.
- Employees who refuse to toe the company line rarely stay long.
"Toe the line" is often misspelled "tow the line". Writers replace the unusual verb toe with the familiar verb tow. Since tow fits none of the explanations of where the phrase comes from, "tow the line" is a linguistic eggcorn: a word swapped for one that sounds the same and seems to make sense.
To tow means to drag or pull. In theory, you can pull a line of rope, but that does not capture the meaning of this phrase.
- The town tows abandoned cars and then fines their owners.
Unfortunately, "tow the line" is a very common mistake, as in this wrong example:
- New sales staff are expected to tow the line from their first day.
3. "Peace of mind" vs. "piece of mind"
Peace of mind is a very common phrase. It describes a feeling of being calm, safe, and free from worry.
Examples:
- Knowing that the door is locked gives me peace of mind when I travel.
- The study looked at stress levels, peace of mind, and how much free time people had.
Piece of mind, on the other hand, is wrong. It is easy to see why people make the mistake, though. Another well-known expression is "to give someone a piece of your mind". It means to scold someone or to criticize them openly, so that your anger is perfectly clear. You give someone a piece of your mind when you are angry or irritated. When you want to feel calm and safe, you are looking for peace of mind.
4. "Tongue-in-cheek" vs. "tongue and cheek"
Tongue-in-cheek means said or done in an ironic, playful, or insincere way, not meant to be taken seriously.
The phrase first expressed contempt. By the middle of the 19th century, it had its modern meaning. One early use is in Sir Walter Scott's novel The Fair Maid of Perth (1828).
Today it signals a joke or sarcasm:
- The tongue-in-cheek remark was not meant to be taken seriously, but Sarah was easily offended.
- Amid a storm of criticism, he apologized, claiming that his comment was "clearly tongue in cheek" and taken out of context.
Before a noun, the phrase takes hyphens (a tongue-in-cheek remark). After a verb, it is often written without them (his comment was tongue in cheek).
Tongue and cheek is a mishearing of tongue-in-cheek. It does not express humor or sarcasm; it is simply wrong, as in this example:
- There are a lot of people calling themselves witches in a political way, in a tongue and cheek way.
Sarcasm and irony are hard to show in writing. A phrase like tongue-in-cheek tells the reader clearly that the writer does not mean something seriously.
5. "Sleight of hand" vs. "slight of hand"
Sleight is a noun. It means the use of skill or cunning, especially to deceive.
Sleight comes from the same root as sly. You will most likely see it in the phrase sleight of hand: the quick, skillful hand movements of a magician. The phrase can also describe trickery or misdirection in other areas:
- The fine print shows that it was a sleight of hand: a clever piece of news management to create the impression of new money.
- Only when you read the speech carefully do you notice his sleight of hand.
The word slight has several other meanings. As a verb, it means to insult or ignore someone by treating them without respect or attention. As an adjective, it means small in degree ("a slight increase"), or it describes a person who is thin or slender ("a slight, delicate-looking man").
The two words look and sound alike, so it is easy to see why people confuse them:
- But magicians do what they do by slight of hand, and smoke and mirrors.
So, is it sleight of hand or slight of hand? Slight is a homophone of sleight, but sleight of hand is the correct form for a cleverly done trick. Sleight means skill or craftiness, while slight usually means small or, about a person, slim.
Why a spell checker can miss these
Every word in "tow the line" or "piece of mind" is spelled correctly, so a check that looks at one word at a time has nothing to flag. The AI Spell Checker reads whole sentences and can catch a real word in the wrong place. For more pairs like these, see commonly misused words and easily confused words.