Got a call from one of the readers of this blog (one of the few) who thought they had found several problems and mistakes. In terms of spelling and grammar, they were spot on. I need to use the old Spell Check function a bit more religiously. In terms of the phrase fleshed out, they were WRONG!
Sadly, so was I. He thought that instead of using "fleshed out" to describe the process of working out kinks with iPhone applications, I should have used the phrase "flushed out." I threw him what I thought was a perfectly cromulent explanation of why I used "fleshed out." Despite being embiggened by my explanation, I was wrong. I thought it had to do with tanning hides, removing flesh to clean something up. According to several sources on the Internets, it has more to do with modeling.
From WSU:
To “flesh out” an idea is to give it substance, as a sculptor adds clay flesh to a skeletal armature. To “flush out” a criminal is to drive him or her out into the open. The latter term is derived from bird-hunting, in which one flushes out a covey of quail. If you are trying to develop something further, use “flesh”; but if you are trying to reveal something hitherto concealed, use “flush.”
If you think trusting WSU is too wazzu, then there is this from the Honest Hypocrite:
These two phrases, "flesh out" and "flush out", do not mean the same thing and are not interchangeable. You flesh out a plan. Building the plan is akin to putting flesh on a skeletal frame. Fleshing out is building up not searching out. Your hunting dog flushes out the pheasants from the tall grass so that you can get a good shot at them. You flush out things that are hidden. You could flesh out a plan to flush out the pheasants.
What is more surprising than the knowledge that I actually used a turn of phrase correctly is the realization that there are more people reading my blog than just my Mom!
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