Eggcorn Forum

Whenever I hear the “clutching at straws” expression, I think of those thriller-movie scenes in which someone is hanging over a cliff and reaches up to grab onto something, anything; if they get a sturdy branch of a small tree, they’re saved, but if they wildly grab at straws, well….

If you haven’t come up with some similar mental picture, the original expression probably sounds pretty weird. In a way, “strays” could be an improvement: it might refer to precisely the kind of stray thoughts the acorn is pointing to in the first place. About 15 ughits. Examples:

Could that possibly be Beighton?
Clutching at strays but the 1871 shows William as born in Cantley, Norfolk and thats close to Beighton.
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.ph … _next=next

Any chance of a Pakistan victory or am I clutching at strays??
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/4830312-post14.html

You know you are mistaken and so you are obviously clutching at strays now which is exceptionally silly. God loves you and you treat Him so badly which is a disgrace. The only “ignorance” is displayed by you for the way you treat God and make Him into something that he is not. I will still pray for you to be healed from your satanic occult fixation which has blinded you from the truth and made your private thoughts evil and confused.
http://www.topix.com/forum/religion/pag … 3I7917C/p3

I am clutching at strays and would love some input/suggestions. I’ve found the info on testing the AFM but any insight would be sweet.
http://www.mitsubishi-forums.com/t31519 … on-ulp.htm

There are also about 30 unique citations for “clucking at straws.” That barnyard metaphor has a wonderful coherence to it, but I don’t think it hits the nail on the head quite as exactly.

Last edited by patschwieterman (2009-01-19 01:47:01)