Champing was the standard (even if you’d never heard it) and now it isn’t. Chomping is an accepted version of the phrase now. Language in the act of changing.
Sure, at least. I remember reading “champing” in the phrase (in books that were at least decades old by then) as a yout and questioning whether that was a typo or a mistake because I was certain I’d heard it as “chomping” when someone spoke it. My english teacher stated more and more people used “chomping” and it wasn’t necessarily wrong. That was in the late 70’s. I am olde and get offa my lawn.
champing*
Potato tomato
Chew On This: Is It Chomping Or Champing?
TLDR
Fyi, that isn’t the standard across the English speaking world and never heard champing before being on this website.
Champing was the standard (even if you’d never heard it) and now it isn’t. Chomping is an accepted version of the phrase now. Language in the act of changing.
It’s at least a 40 y/o change.
Sure, at least. I remember reading “champing” in the phrase (in books that were at least decades old by then) as a yout and questioning whether that was a typo or a mistake because I was certain I’d heard it as “chomping” when someone spoke it. My english teacher stated more and more people used “chomping” and it wasn’t necessarily wrong. That was in the late 70’s. I am olde and get offa my lawn.
Archaic or rarely-used words often get preserved in idioms like this.
And pointing it out is needlessly pedantic.