salchow » sowcow

Classification: English – cross-language – vocalized /l/

Spotted in the wild:

  • Another big moment the same year was “the first time I did a double sowcow: […”] (link)
  • I really love watching brian skate and it was a honor to skate with him at stars on ice with the minnesota special olympics thanks for all his help with my double sowcow. (link)
  • The G-rated skating flick, starring Michelle Trachtenberg, Hayden Panettiere as rink rivals and (Joan Cusack and Kim Cattrall as their moms, couldn’t land the sowcow. Targeted at tweens on spring break, Ice Princess averaged a frosty $2,804 at 2,501 theaters. (Yahoo! Movie reviews)
  • Because they knew the competition would be tough that year, they decided to attempt the “triple-lutz-sowcow-off-the-dishwasher-nothing-but-net” move (as seen in “the cutting edge”). (link)

Analyzed or reported by:

  • desperate hours productions blog (link)

The salchow, sometimes referred to as Salchow jump is a figure skating jump named after the Swedish figure skater Ulrich Salchow (1877-1949). Occasionally, we find the rarer form sowchow.

Names for athletic moves and maneuvers don’t really have to make much sense. Eggcorn users may be satisfied to suppose that the term is an obscure or jocular allusion to sows and cows.

The error can occur in other languages than English — a pan-linguistic eggcorn? This is from a young figure skater writing in French, who, however, is unsure of the spelling:

Je suis un garçon et je fais du patin depuis 3 ans. Je fait le sowchow (je pense que ça s’écrit comme ça), le saut de valse, saut de lapin, cherry flip. Je suis rendu à l’étape 4 et j’ai eu ma première médaille d’or il y a moins de 3 semaines, à Longueuil. C’était ma 2ème compétition.

| link | entered by Chris Waigl, 2005/04/01 |

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