Peeving: Case and Mute

If you hear someone say "Ha! Case and point!" please smack them and remind them it's not a tennis match. Unless, of course, tennis is the subject of discussion. Then tell them they're not playing euchre.

The phrase, friends, is actually "Case in point." To elucidate, the phrase is based in the idea that you make a case against someone or something. The structure used to make a case is a listing of supporting points. The Gestalt of those points forms what is called a case. Think of it as a legal case; every piece of evidence is a point of the case against the defendant.

Therefore, "case in point" is to create the entire case in a single point or, more to wit, the fact that a single point can carry the entire case. You have an entire case in a single point or "case in point."

For example, if someone were to pose the argument that Republicans are just being choads about healthcare and you were to point out that Mitt Romney's healthcare deal in Mass was pretty much the same as Obama's but on a national level and now he's trying to reconcile that discrepancy, that would roll as a "case in point." Some might argue that Republicans being choads might qualify alone, "case in point" generally has to appeal to both sides of the argument.


If someone says "It's a mute point!" smack them. They may be getting the reference right but the word is "moot." Tell them to look it up.

That is all.