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.
It is interesting how some phrases get used without the conscious effort to make distinctions. I went to http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fleshed and the first definition for “fleshed†is “To give substance or detail to; fill out:” Thank you for the feedback.