What is the difference between: 

   “Let’s flesh out the details of the plan”

and

   “Let’s flush out the details of this plan”

?

These phrases are so often interchanged, and it bugs me!  So let’s figure this out.

Generally, you “flesh out” details, not “flush” them out.  Fleshing out is a phrase which comes from the art world, where you start with a skeletal body, and then “flesh out” the rest of the image - adding “flesh” to a skeleton.  Get it?

Flushing out means to bring out into the open; police may “flush out” a criminal from his hiding place behind the toilet.  I’m not sure what it would mean to “flush out the details of the plan” - somehow the details are in hiding, waiting to be revealed, and you’re going to scare them into the public?

Here are some bloggers that I hope will read this!
- Travis Killion
- The Simple Millionaire
- Aaron @ PrimeAdvertising
- Zoe

Sorry for being a word snob.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 3:25 am and is filed under Editorial. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Bookmark on del.icio.us