pustule » pus jewel

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • my face is sore and i dont like having big pus jewels on my face. (TalkBass forums, Mar. 2, 2003)
  • It barely hurts at all though and doesn’t seem inflamed, except it gets a weird pus-jewel type bubble when I wear my glasses, but that doesn’t hurt either. (Vegan Represent forums, Apr. 25, 2003)
  • The only thing they can do is pop them one by one and remove the pus jewel inside to stop them spreading if they do not clear up on their own. (Essential Baby forums, Sep. 1, 2004)
  • Two days ago a nice sized pus jewel popped up on Mr.Eliot’s ring finger. (Knee deep in the hoopla, May 3, 2005)

Analyzed or reported by:

The word-part “-tule” has been reinterpreted as the word “jewel”. Only five or so Google web cites, but they look firm. [From Arnold Zwicky, who posted a duplicate of this entry just seconds after Ben posted his. As Ben said on ADS-L: Just think, if this had been noted on Language Log a few years ago, we might all be referring to “pus jewels” instead of “eggcorns”…]

| link | entered by Ben Zimmer, 2006/08/09 |

Commentaries

  1. 1

    Commentary by Nathaniel Grossman , 2006/08/09 at 8:07 pm

    Doesn’t “pus jewels” already have a prototype in carbuncles, which are both inflamed pustules and red gem stones cut in the shape of a boss?

  2. 2

    Commentary by Mark Walker , 2006/08/13 at 6:10 pm

    Are you sure those aren’t car bunkles?

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