✨📕 The NEWThe NEW Collegiate Dictionary, 12th Edition Over 5,000 words added — Buy Now! Collegiate DictionaryBuy Now!
play woman and dog illustration

'Nip it in the butt' or 'Nip it in the bud'?

We're gonna stop you right there


Is it 'nip it in the butt' or 'nip it in the bud'? Senior Editor Emily Brewster explains.

Transcript

Sometimes a word that sounds like the right word and feels like the right word isn't actually the right word. It's an eggcorn. You don't nip something in the butt if you want to stop it before it gets worse, though, maybe that would work in some cases. No, you nip it in the bud. You figuratively pinch off the bud before it opens into a leaf or flower.

Up next

play woman and dog illustration
'Nip it in the butt' or 'Nip it in the bud'?

 

We're gonna stop you right there

play video who vs whom
Who vs. Whom

 

Good news for those who feel stuffy saying 'whom.'

play emily brewster and one and the same text graphic
'One in the same' or 'One and the same'?

 

Is it all the same anyway?

play video websters video of 1864
Webster's Dictionary of 1864

 

The landmark edition that transformed the way dictionaries are made.

play body parts video
When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

 

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes

play illustrated notebook that says everyday vs every day
'Everyday' vs. 'Every Day'

 

A simple trick to keep them separate

play backward index mystery
The True Story of the Backward Index

 

These people needed a computer