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Chris -- 2018-04-11

#1 2007-02-20 10:04:05

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

painting with egg tempura

I guess I’d consider “egg tempura” a misspelling of “egg tempera”

In general, “tempera” is a paint medium that uses application vehicle other than oil. And, one particular alternative is egg yolk. So, “egg tempera” is a legitimate designation in itself.

The writer in your example may or may not be aware of what “tempura” is. If he is not, then the construction you’ve located is a malapropism—because the literal (correct) meaning of the individual words leads to a ludicrous interpretation for the phrase.

As you suggest, it’s even more bizarre if the writer indeed intended “tempura”—which is battered and fried vegetables/seafood—as written. I can’t imagine that someone would/could paint with that, and I also find it hard to imagine that someone else would believe it either. So, I’m prone to declare that the construction is not an eggcorn because the utterer probably does not literally believe what he is saying.

In closing, I’d just like to add that your find sure makes for a cute malapropism worthy of lots of chuckles.

Last edited by jorkel (2007-02-20 10:08:32)

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