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Chris -- 2018-04-11

#1 2006-11-06 11:06:52

jorkel
Eggcornista
Registered: 2006-08-08
Posts: 1456

DRIPS (dribs) and drabs

Google counts on Nov 6, 2006
176,000 “dribs and drabs”
21,600 “drips and drabs”—eggcorn
Analysis by Joe Krozel

“By dribs and drabs” means (roughly) in small, unreliable, intermittent portions—but “drips” clearly seem more tangible than “dribs.”

Note: although this one is listed in Paul Brians’ “Common Errors in English Usage,” I came upon it independently; I mention this reference because it came up at the top of my Google search list…..

drips and drabs Since the origin of the phrase is obscure, people try to substitute a more familiar word for the unusual word “drib” by writing “drips and drabs. ...
wsu.edu/~brians/errors/drips.html – 2k – Cached – Similar pages

Examples:

Triskele Consulting Home PageMy “modest proposal” is a bit of roadgeekery I’ve been working on in drips and drabs for years. I’ve decided to start converting my scribbles over to HTML. ...
www.triskele.com/ – 10k – Cached – Similar pages

Science Netlinks: Science UpdatesThat’s why it’s useful for the cicada brood to emerge all at once, instead of in drips and drabs: no matter how easy they are to catch, predators can’t …
www.sciencenetlinks.com/sci_update.cfm?DocID=215 – 16k – Cached – Similar pages

Humboldt State University- widgetsThere are really just a few drips and drabs of old growth left in there, and in these little bits that are left, there are these tall trees lurking—and we …
167.160.244.42/widgets/GetRssfeed.php?id=295 – 28k – Cached – Similar pages

If I Were In Berkeley, I’d Go To This… of several days, in drips and drabs, and a lot of the reporting has become news because it represents “reaction” and “public opinion” on the matter. ...
www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/briefings/rss_1.0/ – 13k – Cached – Similar pages

Latest News – Millennium CampaignProgress may come in drips and drabs but the struggle must continue. In Africa and many poor countries all politicians stand for elections, whether …
www.millenniumcampaign.org/site/apps/nl … F72ABD-... – 53k – Cached – Similar pages

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