Legal Writing

?To Tide You Over?

By Maeve Maddox

Carol Dedrick wonders about the expression “to tide one over”:

A quick Google search found most folks believe the saying to be “tide me over” vs. “tie me over.” I did find one seemingly credible site [that] supported the opposite. Do you know the origin of the statement, and the correct version?

I found the site that defends the error “tie me over.” The blogger is very firm in his/her contention, but presents nothing more than personal opinion to support it.

The word tide is from the Old English word for “time” or “season.” Yuletide, for example, means “the season of Yule.” German Zeit is cognate with tide.

“Tide” meaning “rise and fall of the sea” came into use in the 14th century. This meaning derived from the notion of “fixed time of high water.” Old English used the words flod for high tide and ebba for low tide. Tide as a verb is recorded from the 1620s.

Here’s the OED’s definition of the expression “to tide over”:

to get over or surmount (a difficulty, time of stress, etc.) as if by rising on the flowing tide, or by taking advantage of a favourable tide.

Speakers to whom the expression “tide over” is unfamiliar mistakenly write “tie over”:

Journal Page To Tie You Over

Oftentimes, A Fast Cash Advance Loan Can Tie You Over Those Lean Moments

To tie you over until our full … review lands, here’s a first look at the opening levels of the campaign

It should be enough to tie you over until you find yourself a new boyfriend.

Perhaps these writers see the image of people clinging to a rope, rather than someone in a ship being borne up and carried by the tide.

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Full post as published by Daily Writing Tips on September 09, 2010 (boomark / email).