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Bernardo de La Paz

(48,988 posts)

4. Perhaps a typo that your proofreading didn't catch either? I think you mean

Reply to Brainfodder (Reply #3)

Mon May 25, 2020, 07:51 AM

May 2020

bated breath.

It is from the word abate, which means to lessen.

So bated breath is breath held in. It has nothing to do with bait for fishing and things like that. Also, it is the past tense of the verb, since the image evoked is one of breath already held, not beginning to be held.

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Perhaps a typo that your proofreading didn't catch either? I think you mean Bernardo de La Paz May 2020 #4

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