rain » reign
Spotted in the wild:
- Asked whether he felt he was over his illness that would leave him drained some days but not others, Julian explained “I felt fine on both days but I’ve only been racing for an hour but I think now the season has ended so it’s not a problem now. A few beers and in a month I’ll be right as reign and will be back on the road and training for next year.” (British Cycling)
- Right as reign, Blair declares (Hellen Kennedy, NY Daily News, article title)
Analyzed or reported by:
- Jan Freeman, Boston Globe (Right as Reign)
Michael Quinion at World Wide Words explains the idiom right as rain.
With the substitution right as reign comes a meaning shift for right: in the original, the sense is all right, in good order, whereas in the eggcorn right sometimes seems to have a meaning approaching to morally justified.
See also rein>reign and the reverse eggcorn reign>rain (rain supreme).
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