ashley (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ashleyisachild) wrote,@ 2008-04-17 17:27:00 |
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plugging away
I love to use Google to tell me things about language, people or the world by searching for phrases and not really using the search results themselves... such as using Google to figure the correct wording of an idiom (we've all heard someone say something like "oh, I'm just pulling your rib, don't worry about it," and no one wants to be that guy).
Just now I second-guessed myself as I was answering a Facebook message and almost said "just chugging away at user emails." 'Chugging away'? Am I guzzling them down? Wtf am I talking about? Maybe it's 'plugging away'? But that doesn't sound right either, it doesn't involve electricity or any other type of 'plugging'.... Time to turn to Google for some advice. I did searches for the three possibilities I could think of:
"chugging away": 69,600 results
"chugging along": 310,000 results
"plugging away": 553,000 results
Apparently the last option is the one I was looking for. To be fair, "chugging away" gave results that were talking about wine reviews and trains, while "plugging away" gave a result from the Idiom Dictionary, which sealed the deal. But the numbers were telling. I don't want to be all sewed up in horse pies.
I love to use Google to tell me things about language, people or the world by searching for phrases and not really using the search results themselves... such as using Google to figure the correct wording of an idiom (we've all heard someone say something like "oh, I'm just pulling your rib, don't worry about it," and no one wants to be that guy).
Just now I second-guessed myself as I was answering a Facebook message and almost said "just chugging away at user emails." 'Chugging away'? Am I guzzling them down? Wtf am I talking about? Maybe it's 'plugging away'? But that doesn't sound right either, it doesn't involve electricity or any other type of 'plugging'.... Time to turn to Google for some advice. I did searches for the three possibilities I could think of:
"chugging away": 69,600 results
"chugging along": 310,000 results
"plugging away": 553,000 results
Apparently the last option is the one I was looking for. To be fair, "chugging away" gave results that were talking about wine reviews and trains, while "plugging away" gave a result from the Idiom Dictionary, which sealed the deal. But the numbers were telling. I don't want to be all sewed up in horse pies.
