Distinguishing between a guided missile (or pigeon) and a whetstone.

We've come to expect the occastional grammatical gaffe from the President of the United States, but he shared a recent slip-up with no less than NEPA's Hotline newsletter. They both used hone when home was the correct word.

Prior to leaving for the G-8 Summit in Scotland, George W. Bush told reporters, referring to the Supreme Court vacancy, that he would "hone in on a handful" of prospective nominees.

Make that "home in on a handful."

Hotline wrote, paraphrasing June conference speaker Wayne Lukas, "If you want to get something done, clearly define what it is, then hone in on it."

Make that "home in on it."

Hone, as a transitive verb, means "to sharpen"--as in "He honed his knife on a whetsone."

Home, as an intransitive verb, means "to go or return home"--as in, "The pigeon faithfully homed in on its destination."

But it's the second definition of home as an intransitive verb that is operative here: "(of guided missiles, aircraft, etc.) to proceed, esp. under control of an automatic aiming mechanism, toward a specified target."