hardy » hearty

Chiefly in:   foolhearty

Variant(s):  fool hearty

Classification: English – /t/-flapping

Spotted in the wild:

  • It is dangerous and foolhearty to believe that we will preserve these values for ourselves without also promoting them actively and honestly abroad. (American University commencement address, May 19, 2002)
  • Temperatures in the 40s with strong winds greated those hearty (or foolhearty?) enough to brave the weather and the terrain for a challenging afternoon in the woods. (Rochester Orienteering Club, Oct. 26, 2002)
  • However, the Dowbrigade is not easily intimidated. Fool hearty would perhaps not be an exaggeration. (Dowbrigrade News, Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, July 17, 2004)
  • The application of purely technical analysis without consideration to either the possibility of an emerging fundamental, such is an upcoming Fed meeting, or critical earnings report, or, in the case of some produced commodities, labor strife etc., is fool hearty. (Futures Magazine, Dec. 13, 2004)
  • THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING…BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. (NOAA Bulletin, Aug. 28, 2005)

Analyzed or reported by:

[Edited on 14 Sep. 2005 to include the NOAA bulletin on Hurricane Katrina. Brian Williams of NBC News verified the bulletin and determined that it was written by National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Ricks, a native of New Orleans. With the hurricane bearing down, concern about eggcorns was probably the last thing on his mind.]

See also hearty » hardy.

| link | entered by Ben Zimmer, 2005/09/05 |

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