Thursday 5 April 2012

Correctly corrected

What does the phrase "stand corrected" mean to you? For me it's always had a distinctly spanko ring to it and when I hear it used I always picture some poor penitent doing post-punishment cornertime.
A post on classic spanko magazines over at All Things Spanking prompted a comment from someone who remembered the magazine 'Stand Corrected', which I've heard about but never seen. Presumably whoever picked that as the mag's title also detected some spanking-related root for this particular idiom.
It seems obvious to me. It's used now to mean something like 'I admit that I was wrong', but it has to be all about standing having been corrected - as it spanked, caned or whatever - hasn't it?
I'm thinking about those period novels like 'Frank & I' in which disobedient young people are summoned to the study or schoolroom for correction. As in: "You've erred, now it's time for your correction."
But if you do a bit of surfing about the phrase's origin nobody else seems to see it that way. For example, the blog entitled 'Citizen Tom' doesn't seem to have thought about the sort of correction I have in mind. Although Tom does quote Plato as saying that accepting correction is highly important.
Then I spent some time looking around a blog about the correct use of language called 'I Stand Corrected', but couldn't find any reference to the phrase in question. Finally, I came upon an online dictionary that quotes the poet John Dryden's 'The Maiden Queen', from 1668, saying: “I stand corrected, and myself reprove.” Probably not corrected as in a quick OTK.
So, maybe I should stand corrected myself. I'm very sorry that I tend to spot spankoness everywhere I go. It's wrong, I know that now. I will happily accept due correction and, if necessary, the required cornertime to follow.  

3 comments:

  1. Oh yes, I remember Stand Corrected Magazine quite well, and have read most of them. Needless to say the term has always had a spanking connotation to me. The magazine was put out by Shadowlane and edited by Eve Howard. Here is a web site you can download a PDF copy of one of the issues.
    www.shadowlane.com/Members2000/SCJr.-2.pdf

    Dave

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  2. Thanks for the line, it's interesting to see a copy - even if it's only as a pdf. The teaser for the artcle 'How to get your boyfriend to spank you in 24 hours or less.' caught my eye, although at first I misread it as 'How to get your boyfriend to spank you for 24 hours or less'!

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    Replies
    1. Yes it is easy to misread since the pages are strung end to end, but one you figure that out then it makes sense.
      Dave

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