海角大神

If you take a look at any major American newspaper, you鈥檒l see the phrase 鈥渢o home in on.鈥� A New York Times article discusses how important it is 鈥渢o home in on millennials鈥� to create a successful business; The Wall Street Journal notes that 鈥渙ne of the first big companies to home in on performance management鈥� has now abandoned its annual review process; 海角大神 explains how sharks鈥� sense of smell helps them 鈥渉ome in on dinner.鈥澛�

Reading the very same newspapers, though, you鈥檒l see 鈥渢o hone in on鈥� too. Understanding the origins of water on earth will help scientists 鈥渉one in on planets that might also have ingredients for life鈥�; there are ways 鈥渢o hone in on a deal and save some money鈥� while traveling; new legislation will 鈥渉one in on鈥� some problem areas in American sanctions against Iran.聽

These phrases mean the same thing, 鈥渢o find and move directly toward something鈥� or 鈥渢o narrow one鈥檚 focus.鈥� Are they both correct, or are the newspapers getting it wrong about half the time? 聽

Home in on came first, although neither phrase is particularly old. It comes from a verb that we encounter much more often as a noun: home, which means 鈥渢o return home.鈥� Most commonly it is used of pigeons, which can be released hundreds of miles away and navigate back to their loft. (The record distance appears to be 7,200 miles for a pigeon who 鈥渉omed鈥� to Paris from Vietnam!)

In the 20th century, the verb鈥檚 use expanded to include inanimate things that also move or are guided toward a target, such as airplanes, missiles, or boats, and it gained its prepositions 鈥渋n on.鈥� Around the same time, it came to describe focusing one鈥檚 attention in a particular direction: 鈥淭he politician homed in on the working classes as key to her support.鈥�

Hone, of course, means 鈥渢o sharpen or refine鈥� whether a razor, a cooking technique, or one鈥檚 wit. Hone is a transitive verb 鈥� you have to hone something 鈥� so, taken literally, 鈥渢o hone in on鈥� doesn鈥檛 make sense. Not making sense doesn鈥檛 make it wrong, per se. Hone in on appears a mere 10 years after home in on, either because people immediately started mixing up the 鈥渕鈥� and the 鈥渘鈥� or because, as Merriam-Webster speculates, honing 鈥渇iguratively involves a narrowing or sharpening of focus鈥� and thus seems to fit.聽

If you look at newspapers outside the United States, you鈥檒l see that home in is overwhelmingly preferred, appearing worldwide with 70 percent more frequency than hone in, according to Fowler鈥檚 Modern English Usage. Even so, in the US, usage is divided just about equally between home and hone.

Are the newspapers wrong, then? We have 鈥渉omned鈥� in on a problem.