The other day, I came across the following headline on the website of a radio station in San Antonio in Texas:
How to Reign in College Costs in TX?
Just days later, I came across this one on the website of an Australian newspaper:
Former Cowboy enjoys free reign at Jets
Both of these examples are part of the same problem, which I’ve seen elsewhere from time to time: confusing “reign” and “rein”.
In both of these examples, the headline writers should have used the word “rein”.
“Rein” refers to the the leather strap a rider uses to guide their horse. To “rein in” a horse would be keeping it under tight control; whereas to give a horse “free rein” would be exerting less control over it.
“Reign”, on the other hand, refers to the power of a monarch, or the period during which they exerted that power. “Free reign”, in this context, just doesn’t make sense: how can we get freedom under a monarchy?
Now, that being said “free reign” is rising in popularity. “Free rein” is doing the opposite.
If these two trends continue, in a few decades, we may see the former replace the latter. For now, I’ll continue using “free rein”.
UPDATE (9 May 2016): One of my LinkedIn followers, Erika Jahn, brought to my attention a similar problem with the phrase “free range”:
Don’t forget “free range”. I hear that almost as often. “If you give him free range to do whatever he wants, he will take advantage.”
Looks like “free reign” has a bit of a struggle ahead staying relevant.
