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Chris -- 2025-05-10
I thought I heard the idiom “tarred with the same brush” pronounced charred and assumed it was a slip of the tongue or denture or just another slip of my ear, but googling managed to reveal a few examples. Oddly enough ‘charring’ would blacken as effectively as ‘tarring’ though you’d need an equally misheard burning brush to apply it.
In 2020, Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells said in response to the phrase “rightwing extremism” that “there are many people of conservative background who take exception with being charred with the same brush”.
You’re a truck driver and I’m certain you get annoyed when all truck drivers are charred with the same brush because of the actions of a few reckless or dangerous individuals.
And I’m embarrassed to be charred with the same brush as this officer.
... get picked up on and all the good home get charred with the same brush as them.
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Perhaps speakers are thinking about a brush fire?
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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