Is the phrase, dull as Dishwater or Ditchwater, I keep hearing both on here?!


Question: Is the phrase, dull as Dishwater or Ditchwater, I keep hearing both on here!?
Answers:
Originally ditchwater!.!.!.dishwater is the more recent variant!.Www@Enter-QA@Com

"It was as dull as a dishwasher!."

My friends' giggly response suggested that what I had said wasn't quite right!. Whilst this isn't as unusual as I'd perhaps like to admit on this blog, I hadn't expected the ensuing squabble over what the correct phrase actually is!. One option was "as dull as dishwater", while the other was "as dull as ditchwater"!. I then realised that my version of the expression, although it made sense in a way, lacked the play on the double meaning of dull (boring and opaque) found in the more received expressions above!. No-one was sure, so I thought I'd look it up!.

I first turned to my trusted Robert & Collins, which told me: "as dull as ditchwater or dishwater"!. The Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms agreed that both were used!. The OED has an entry for "as dull as ditchwater", but not for the other one!. Finally, the "American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms" tells us that although both forms are now in use, the original is "dull as ditchwater", dating from the 1700s, which only became dishwater in the first half of the 1900s, probably through mispronunciation!.

I'll hazard a guess here: maybe, as populations became more urbanised, ditchwater turned into dishwater because washing the dishes was a much more familiar experience than peering into ditches, which are rather rare in towns!. I bet you that before long, as dishwashers become more and more common in households, dishwater will turn into dishwasher, and then no-one will laugh at me because of it!. Although they will probably have found something else!.Www@Enter-QA@Com

Dull as ditchwater - English Idiom Definition !.!.!. ( In American English,'things are 'dull as dishwater'!.)Www@Enter-QA@Com

DISHWATER - they've probably got a typing impediment!!Www@Enter-QA@Com

I thought it was DitchWater :)Www@Enter-QA@Com

Dishwater probably!. Ditch water that makes no sense!.Www@Enter-QA@Com

I thought it was dishwater though ditchwater also makes sense if you think of what ditchwater looks like!.!.!.!. now I am confused too!! :/Www@Enter-QA@Com

DITCHwater is the English idiomWww@Enter-QA@Com

DitchwaterWww@Enter-QA@Com

Hmm I always thought it was dishwater, but maybe it depends on the area you live in!.Www@Enter-QA@Com

i say dishwater, - but it may be whatever your family says- or what they say in your areaWww@Enter-QA@Com

dishwater! what the hell is ditchwater!?!!?!!?!!?!!?Www@Enter-QA@Com

i thought the phrase was dull as jeffrey archer!.!.!.Www@Enter-QA@Com

I thought it was dishwater!.!.!.! xWww@Enter-QA@Com

I think it is ditchwater!.

xxWww@Enter-QA@Com

dishwasherWww@Enter-QA@Com

it's Pishywater where i come from!!!Www@Enter-QA@Com

cylon puppy is right with what they saidWww@Enter-QA@Com



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