untimely » on timely

Classification: English – on «» un-

Spotted in the wild:

  • Our condolences on the on timely death of Kothari Chandhary who was killed in a tragic bus accident. (CARE Nepal newsletter, Jan. 2002)
  • His on timely death, when he was in full activity, produced consternation among the many fans of Uruguayan film and specially among the few who were able to cultivate his friendship. (The Thinking Eye, 2003)
  • I was very sorry to hear about his on timely death. (Blog of Death, June 14, 2004)

Analyzed or reported by:

Ken Lakritz writes:

This is a peculiar eggcorn in that it seems to reverse the meaning of the original, although users seem not to appreciate this.

| Comments Off link | entered by Ben Zimmer, 2005/07/16 |

quote unquote » quote on quote

Variant(s):  quote-on-quote

Classification: English – on «» un-

Spotted in the wild:

  • I’m worried that Knife of Dreams will be the quote-on-quote second half of Crossroads. (Post in rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan)
  • There is nothing wrong with quote on quote “selling out”, but when I started seeing all the quote on quote “punk-rocker” crowd wearing all their hot rod circuit clothes and patches, I silently put away my once-loved Hot rod circuit t-shirt and never saw it again. (link)
  • Some might say that having “penis envy” (which I actually often reserve the saying for males, since the whole “is it big-wide-long-normal enough?” debate leads me to believe me that is THEY they really have this quote on quote “penis envy” ) is a sign of a transgenderal person. (link)
  • I have heard many times that since I have CP that I couldn’t do most of the things that regular (quote on quote) people can. (link)
  • Everybody seems to label you guys as quote on quote “anti-media.” (link)
| 2 comments | link | entered by adavies42, 2005/03/22 |

on track » untracked

Classification: English – on «» un- – final d/t-deletion

Spotted in the wild:

  • Well, Bubby wasn’t the answer. And Griese hasn’t exactly burned it up. Heck, even TD can’t get untracked. Looks like Elway timed this thing just right. (link)

Analyzed or reported by:

| Comments Off link | entered by Ben Zimmer, 2004/12/09 |