due » do

Chiefly in:   do diligence , do process , do to (the fact, etc.) , give credit where credit is do , give (someone) his/her do

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • Flip chip manufacturing capability requires extreme “do diligence” in the areas of die bumping, substrate design, assembly methods for long-term reliability. (Northampton Community College course description)
  • They also did not want to relieve the licensee of their responsibility to do its own do diligence in determining the caliber of people with whom it associated and contracted. (Minutes of the Nevada Assembly Committee on Taxation, Apr. 8, 1999)
  • Six years later in 1975 Gross V. Lopez brought before the Supreme Court a student’s rights to do process (Durrett 23). (Houston Teachers Institute, 2004)
  • According to the US law, arrest and imprisonment may not be imposed upon a citizen without do process including evidence of a crime and being proven guilty by a judge or jury using the evidence as proof. (Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, 1996)
  • Captain Mark Grazdan, assistant professor of military science, said most of the credit for Capehart’s experiences and life changes is do to Capehart himself. (Univ. of Tennessee Daily Beacon, Feb. 11, 1999)
  • This is do to the remnants of Tropical Storm Bertha, which will be drifting westward out of Louisiana by Tuesday. (Texas Climatic Bulletin, Aug. 5, 2002)
  • Though the Quest mode lets you kill a lot and you have to maintain your character throughout the game, the challenge just isn’t there; this is do to the fact that your character is roaming the halls and killing enemies without you really having to try too hard. (Univ. of Houston Daily Cougar, May 3, 1999)
  • The second place title was not awarded do to the fact that judges agreed on a tie for first place between “Da Brothers” and Iantha Ussin, a senior journalism major. (Louisiana Tech University, The Tech Talk, Nov. 1, 2001)
  • I’ll give credit where credit is do, because up until Monday night I refused to give the Lightning any type of credible chance. (Univ. of Northern Colorado Mirror, June 30, 2004)
  • We certainly have to give credit where credit is do to Kent, but we didn’t play remotely good enough football today to win a college football game. (Univ. of Buffalo Athletics, Nov. 6, 2004)
  • Jesus said give Caesar his do as leader and authority and give God His do. (Grace Christian Fellowship, June 20, 2004)
  • James will get a great deal from some team that is able to give him his do. (Indiana University School of Physical Education and Tourism Management, Apr. 2005)

_Due_ appears in numerous idioms as either adjective or noun, and its frequent replacement with _do_ occurs with varying levels of eggcornosity. First, as with do » due, the substitution is expected only from speakers for whom _do_ and _due_ are homophonous. In some cases, such as _due/do diligence_, the confusion is warranted by similar set expressions: _to do (one’s) diligence_ vs. _to perform/conduct due diligence_. In the case of _do process_, the eggcorn could conceivably hinge on a reinterpretation of the set phrase _right to due process_, with the complement of _right_ being understood as an infinitive, _to do process_. Other cases are more difficult to justify semantically (let alone grammatically), beyond perhaps a vague connection between performance (_do_) and obligation or causation (_due_).

See also undue » undo.

| link | entered by Ben Zimmer, 2005/07/20 |

Commentaries

  1. 1

    Commentary by e , 2006/03/08 at 2:30 pm

    i was recently asked not to give “undo concern” to something by a person who was advising me on studying for an english teaching credential. the exchange was just shy of acrimonious and, o, how i wanted to call her on it!

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