home/hone switch

[Laurence Horn]

>That, or simply a typo.
>
>Herb

Well, considering the 35,700 google hits for "hone in on", only a
small number of which are "watch your language" sites, I don't think
we're at the "simply a typo" stage anymore.  My favorite (no, I
didn't go through all 45K) is this one, from (believe it or not)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/glossary/index.shtml?00696

Glossary
This is the Skillswise Glossary, where you'll find the meaning of
difficult words used on this website.
hone in
Verb

To focus on. (phrasal verb)

Example:The detectives honed in on the suspect.


Larry

>On Aug 25, 2004, at 11:07 AM, Stahlke, Herbert F.W. wrote:
>
>>  Using "hone" for "home" in expressions like "home in on" has been
>>  common
>>  for at least two decades.  The MWDEU's earliest citation is from
>George
>>  H. W. Bush in 1978, so it must have been around a good bit before
>that.
>>  Today, however, I came across my first instance of "home" for "hone",
>>  in
>>  the sense of "sharpen"...
>
>>  "Questions about the pair's Olympic chances arose in June, shortly
>>  after
>>  May pulled an abdominal muscle.  She spent most of the summer
>rehabbing
>>  while Walsh kept homing her game with other partners."
>>
>>  Is this a nonce instance, or are "home" and "hone" trading places?
>
>my guess -- only a guess -- is that this a hypercorrection: a writer
>who kept getting flak about "hone in on" became suspicious of *all*
>occurrences of "hone".
>
>arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)