As you sit in your lovely warm home, fed, watered and generally being a rather lucky animal, spare a thought for one not so fortunate as you.
The damp squid.
This poor creature - despite never doing anything to harm any of you - is unfairly maligned and blamed for a whole host of social ills.
You see the phrase isn't "damp squid" it's"damp squib" - but that doesn't stop the blame being cruelly hurled around.
Crap TV...
A lack of work...
Even the weather...
You see, "damp squib" - used as a term for failure is actually named after a dud 19th century explosive mining device.
But just won't stop people...
And it's not the only mis-quoted English phrase (though it is the most).
We also have...
"On tenter hooks."
"Nip it in the bud."
"Champing at the bit."
"A moot point."
"One fell swoop."
"All that glisters is not gold."
"Averse to."
"Batten down the hatches."
"Find a pin pick it up."