"old wise tale"/"old wives tell"

[Laurence Horn]

Well, since "wife" (in the modern sense) isn't really part of the old wives' tale anyway, I rule no harm no foul.

FWIW, the eggcorn database includes hits for "old wise tale", "old wise tail", and even "wise tale" without the old:

http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/index.php?s=old+wise+tale

LH


On Feb 16, 2014, at 4:40 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> 132.000 raw g-hits
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org