By  Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever

This is another example of what I like to call “Close but no cigarette.”

I don’t remember where I heard it, as a good blogger should, but I recently heard someone on the television say the incorrect “the point is mute” instead of the correct “the point is moot.”

The point is moot, of course, means that the point has no practical significance. For instance, the point about how to spend the holiday bonus is moot after being fired from the job.

The point is mute would mean that the point cannot speak, which is the case for all points.

I know. I know. Common usage has most likely blurred the two, and if a mistake made often enough is reason for you to accept something, then this post is mute.