Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
You are not logged in.
Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to
The forum administrator reserves the right to request users to plausibly demonstrate that they are real people with an interest in the topic of eggcorns. Otherwise they may be removed with no further justification. Likewise, accounts that have not been used for posting may be removed.
Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
A famous novel and film, by….Jimmy Buffett?
Offline
Google produces “about 358,000 [results] for tequila mockingbird.” CD title, various books, band names, a restaurant, even a URL in the UK…
I’m sure it’s been “eggcorned” (seriously applied in misspoken conversation SOMEwhere). The Google search reveals its use as more whimsical and intentional that misspoken or misinterpreted.
Found a true-eggcorn account!
http://booksellerchick.blogspot.com/200 … gbird.html
“One of the most mispronounced titles I’ve ever encountered is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Some just run “To Kill A†together so fast that it sounds like tequila, and others just honest-to-God ask for Tequila Mockingbird leaving me with that pressed lips face you make when you are trying desperately not to laugh. Granted there are books out there bearing that title, but I’ve never had anyone ask for them.”
Last edited by maddog_frenzy (2007-02-12 11:43:37)
Offline
I don’t know what to make of this one. I think maddog_frenzy’s post is really helpful, however. The reading I make of the evidence assembled by m_f is that this probably started as an intentional pun, but got used enough that some speakers have only heard the punning version. I’m not fully convinced by my own theory—I’m still a bit skeptical that anyone could really confuse “To Kill a” for “Tequila”—but I guess it’s possible.
Are there parts of the US (or elsewhere) where “Tequila” would be nearly homophonous with “to kill a”?
There are some other eggcorns or eggcornish phrases that I suspect started as intentional puns. One is “Old Timer’s Disease” for “Alzheimer’s.” I’m really skeptical that “Old Timer’s” could possibly be a mishearing of “Alzheimer’s,” but I’ve read at least a couple of anecdotes about doctors working in Appalachia who met people who sincerely believed “Old Timer’s” to be the name of the disease. That’s not proof, but it’s interestingly suggestive.
And then there’s “a mere bag of shells” for “a mere bagatelle.” Again, I’m suspicious of this one. But the 50s show The Honeymooners made it so familiar that it may now be a genyoowine eggcorn.
Here’s an earlier post on “mere bag of shells”
http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?pid=570
The American Dialect Society list has also discussed “mere bag of shells”; Ben Zimmer had a particularly interesting comment – you’ll have to scroll through the replies:
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bi … =0&P=12430
Here’s a sorta lively exchange we had on “Old Timer’s” quite some time ago:
http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=657
And over at Languagehat.com, there was an interesting exchange on “Old Timer’s,” but you’ll have to use the search button to find the relevant parts:
http://www.languagehat.com/archives/001217.php
Offline
Very illuminating responses. Thank you. The coinage in our house was my 8 year old daughter—who is, as far as I know, innocent of actual tequila.
Offline