Make Your Editor Cry: First-come first-serve vs. First come first served
Without the d, the phrase “first-come first-serve” suggests that the first individual who arrives will be the one who will then serve everyone who follows, which is not the idiom’s intent. The intent is that the first person who arrives will be the first person who is served, not who does the serving.
The correct phrase is to “first-come first-served” with the d.
Correct:
Seats are assigned at check-in on a first-come first-served basis.
Incorrect:
Tickets will be issued on a first-come first-serve basis.
Gregg Bridgeman is the Editor-in-Chief at Olivia Kimbrell Press. He is husband to best-selling Christian author Hallee Bridgeman and parent to three. He continues to proudly serve in the US Armed Forces and has done so in either an active or reserve capacity for more than twenty years as an airborne and air assault qualified paratrooper, earning a Bronze Star for his service. Most importantly, he was ordained in October of 2001 after surrendering his life to Christ decades earlier.