I think “reign” is like “rule”. - A king reigns over his people.
“Rein” is the thing that horse cart drivers use to control the horses. So the rope that goes from horses mouth to drivers hand. You can either “rein (in) the horses” for them to do something, or you can let them “free rein”, meaning they can run as they please.
I think “reign” is like “rule”. - A king reigns over his people.
“Rein” is the thing that horse cart drivers use to control the horses. So the rope that goes from horses mouth to drivers hand. You can either “rein (in) the horses” for them to do something, or you can let them “free rein”, meaning they can run as they please.
I always imagined it like a king being able to freely reign over his people - so that he can freely do whatever he wants in terms of governing them.
well that interpretation certainly works here as well :)
Then free reign could also be an eggcorn.
Til what an eggcorn is. Yeah, absolutely.
Same, but I’m happy to know the correct term.