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I'll be damned...I always say chomping. Now, I don't assume the statements below are fact...I mean...it's the internet. I have to admit, I've traveled a TON in my 58 years on this earth and I've never heard anyone say champing. Oh well. Must be my rural roots...lol.

The idiom is usually written chomping at the bit, and some people consider this spelling wrong. But chomp can also mean to bite or chew noisily (though chomped things are often eaten, while champed things are not), so chomp at the bit means roughly the same as champ at the bit.

In fact, chomp, which began as a variant of champ, is alive in English while the biting-related sense of champ is dead outside this idiom, so it’s no wonder that chomping at the bit is about 20 times as common as champing at the bit on the web. Champing at the bit can sound funny to people who aren’t familiar with the idiom or the obsolete sense of champ, while most English speakers can infer the meaning of chomping at the bit.
 
Anyway.....having just reread the thread, I've just realised that I shot my bolt too early. I had 5th July in my head for the announcement when, in fact, it's the 7th :)

Move along now....nothing to see here!
 
GOS said:
I'll be damned...I
always say chomping. Now, I don't assume the statements below are fact...I mean...it's the internet. I have to admit, I've traveled a TON in my 58 years on this earth and I've never heard anyone say champing. Oh well. Must be my rural roots...lol.

The idiom is usually written chomping at the bit, and some people consider this spelling wrong. But chomp can also mean to bite or chew noisily (though chomped things are often eaten, while champed things are not), so chomp at the bit means roughly the same as champ at the bit.

In fact, chomp, which began as a variant of champ, is alive in English while the biting-related sense of champ is dead outside this idiom, so it’s no wonder that chomping at the bit is about 20 times as common as champing at the bit on the web. Champing at the bit can sound funny to people who aren’t familiar with the idiom or the obsolete sense of champ, while most English speakers can infer the meaning of chomping at the bit.
Click to expand...

It's usually said and written "chomping" because most people don't know it's incorrect (or don't care). Humans are great imitators; we say and do as others do. That's how phrases like "I could care less" are used so often, when the correct phrase is "I couldn't care less".

Here's another one: I frequently see people write "it peaked my interest", when the correct word is piqued. "Peaked" sort of seems like it works, so people assume it's correct. I could go on all day talking about all the things that people get wrong. Instead of "hear, hear!", people commonly write "here, here" when they mean listen to what he said!

The basic problem is that people don't read enough. Children grow up these days reading Facebook posts and internet forums instead of books. When you read books, you see the words written on the page, and they are edited and proofread before publishing, so they are correct. When you read proper English, you learn the correct words and spelling. The internet has screwed up a lot of things, including the use of proper English. I have a bachelors degree English (and accounting as well) and my mother was a college English professor, so I grew up a voracious reader.
 
MCDave said:
It's usually said and written "chomping" because most people don't know it's incorrect (or don't care). Humans are great imitators; we say and do as others do. That's how phrases like "I could care less" are used so often, when the correct phrase is "I couldn't care less".

Here's another one: I frequently see people write "it peaked my interest", when the correct word is piqued. "Peaked" sort of seems like it works, so people assume it's correct. I could go on all day talking about all the things that people get wrong. Instead of "hear, hear!", people commonly write "here, here" when they mean listen to what he said!

The basic problem is that people don't read enough. Children grow up these days reading Facebook posts and internet forums instead of books. When you read books, you see the words written on the page, and they are edited and proofread before publishing, so they are correct. When you read proper English, you learn the correct words and spelling. The internet has screwed up a lot of things, including the use of proper English. I have a bachelors degree English (and accounting as well) and my mother was a college English professor, so I grew up a voracious reader.
Click to expand...

I'm reminded of this clip from the short-running BBC show "Mongrels" which tackles incorrect usage of the word "chomping" head on.

 
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