pit in one's stomach

[Lisa Galvin]

I made this same error when I wrote an essay in my 7th or 8th grade English class circa 1980. My English teacher caught it. 
 
Lisa Galvin
Seattle, USA


                                                   
 


> Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2012 12:08:43 -0500
> From: thegonch at GMAIL.COM
> Subject: Re: pit in one's stomach
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> 
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: pit in one's stomach
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> My question is whether the error was Friedman's or an editor's, and,
> if Friedman's, why didn't an editor catch it.
> 
> DanG
> 
> 
> 
> On Wed, Feb 8, 2012 at 11:48 AM, Ben Zimmer
> <bgzimmer at babel.ling.upenn.edu> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster: Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
> > Subject: pit in one's stomach
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Thomas Friedman in today's Times:
> >
> > ---
> > http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/opinion/friedman-freedom-at-4-below.html
> > To observe the democratic awakenings happening in places like Egypt,
> > Syria and Russia is to travel with a glow in your heart and a pit in
> > your stomach.
> > [...]
> > But that pit in the stomach comes from knowing that while the protests
> > are propelled by deep aspirations for dignity, justice and
> > self-determination, such heroic emotions have to compete with other
> > less noble impulses and embedded interests in these societies.
> > ---
> >
> > A commenter cites Paul Brians' _Common Errors in English Usage_
> >
> > ---
> > http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/pit.html
> > Just as you can love someone from the bottom of your heart, you can
> > also experience a sensation of dread in the pit (bottom) of your
> > stomach. I don’t know whether people who mangle this common expression
> > into “pit in my stomach” envision an ulcer, an irritating peach pit
> > they’ve swallowed or are thinking of the pyloric sphincter; but
> > they’ve got it wrong.
> > ---
> >
> > Jan Freeman wrote about it in a 2008 Globe column, noting the shift
> > from "a feeling in the pit of your stomach" to "a pit (you feel) in
> > your stomach":
> >
> > http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/04/27/gut_check/
> >
> > I'm reminded a bit of the idiom blend "eat at your craw," combining
> > "eat at you" and "stick in your craw":
> >
> > http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1104C&L=ADS-L&P=R10765
> >
> > Neither pits nor craws are easy to place these days.
> >
> > --bgz
> >
> > --
> > Ben Zimmer
> > http://benzimmer.com/
> >
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> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
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