Eggcorn Forum

Discussions about eggcorns and related topics

You are not logged in.

Announcement

Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to if you wish to register.

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

#1 2007-03-18 12:40:17

BadAunt
Member
Registered: 2007-03-18
Posts: 4

Cow tow

A while ago I found “I will not be cow towing to their ego” on a blog somewhere, but forgot to note the web address. However, a google of “cow tow” gets 20,000-odd hits. But it’s still an eggcorn, right? When does an eggcorn stop being an eggcorn and become a ‘real’ word?

(I feel a little sorry for the cow.)

Offline

 

#2 2007-03-18 22:26:06

patschwieterman
Administrator
From: California
Registered: 2005-10-25
Posts: 1680

Re: Cow tow

Ken Lakritz submitted a variant of this—“cow toe”—some time ago. His post is here: http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=78

They’re both amusing, but I’m not sure that either one is an eggcorn. You’ve got to use a lot of imagination to convince yourself that the speakers are consciously drawing connections between towing cows or cows’ toes on the one hand and kowtowing on the other.

Offline

 

#3 2007-03-18 23:27:21

BadAunt
Member
Registered: 2007-03-18
Posts: 4

Re: Cow tow

I see. I noticed when I clicked on a couple of the hits that some people were wondering what cows had to do with it, but I also wondered whether in most instances it was just a mistake by people who realized the word came from Chinese but didn’t know how to spell it. I guess that just makes it a spelling mistake.

Offline

 

#4 2007-03-21 10:22:56

nilep
Eggcornista
Registered: 2007-03-21
Posts: 291

Re: Cow tow

I wonder – and here’s where English orthography somewhat fails us – how those who write <cow tow> pronounce it. It seems fairly clear that <cow toe> is pronounced /kawtow/ (perhaps with variable stress), but <cow tow> could be either /kawtow/ or /kawtaw/. The latter seems like a spelling variation, the former like an eggcorn. (Next question: Is dragging a bovine about somehow an act of obsequiousness?)

Offline

 

Board footer

Powered by PunBB
PunBB is © 2002–2005 Rickard Andersson
Individual posters retain the copyright to their posts.

RSS feeds: active topicsall new posts