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Obtain
The /b/ of obtain is followed by a voiceless sound and is therefore partially devoiced. The same can be found in absence. (Davis 2004: 87)
On the wrong foot
If you start something badly, you set off on the wrong foot, the ‘wrong' foot, of course, being the left. This belief goes back at least to Roman times. The gods were believed to guard your right side, evil spirits hovered on the left. Thus you were expected to enter a house “right foot foremost”. And you were to leave it in the same way. The dread of evil spirits was so strong that guards were appointed to stand at the doorway to all public places to make sure the rule was obeyed! The evilness of the left side is also reflected in the English word sinister, which in Latin (cf. Italian sinistra ) meant ‘left´, but has lost its ‘leftness´ and conserved its ‘evilness´ in English. (Flavell & Flavell 3 2000: 90)
On the wagon
The expression "on the wagon" can only be explained with reference to an important part of culture. It means ‘abstaining from alcohol´.
Orange
In modern English we say "an orange", but this should really be "a norange", since the word is ultimately derived from the Arabic naranj and the Persian narang. The boundary between the indefinite article and the word following it has been reallocated ( Davis 2004: 82). Another example is the modern word apron, which is derived from Old French naperon and ought really to be napron, but a misinterpretation of the of the boundary signals led to a reanalysis of a napron as an apron.
Out!
Imagine a shout being heard during a baseball game: Out! What does it mean? It depends. It is a mere conjecture when the shout comes from a fan, but it is a decision when it comes from the umpire. It can actually end an inning or a game. When it comes from the fan, it is of no consequence whatsoever, when it comes from the umpire it is. And that is the case although the form of the utterance is exactly the same. It all depends on who says it. (Finegan 5 2008: 26)
