Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
I’d like to suggest that the rendering of “stick in my craw” as “stick in my claw” (also “sticks in the claw” etc) might be considered an eggcorn. The sense of the phrase seems to be modified from the notion of an irritant (usually a moral one), to that of a moral issue which cannot be let go of. Part of the sense of the original is carried over, but the emphasis is significantly changed.
The original rendering suggests the speaker as the affected object or observer of another’s action. The new rendering seems considerably more active, perhaps suggesting not just mere irritation, but an active form of moral outrage.
There are handful of examples of the new rendering to be found online. Is it currently too idiomatic to be considered a fully fledged eggcorn?
Well, what does anyone think?
Cheers,
Dan.
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howfar asks:
Is it currently too idiomatic…?
No matter how widely used an idiom may seem to one person, there’s always someone else who hasn’t heard it. My viewpoint on this is: “Nothing is obvious to the uninformed.” But moreso than that, there are many idioms that the majority of us actively use …even long after the original imagery has been lost for the average person. (We’ve had discussions on such idiomatic phrases as “play fast and loose” on this forum before). And, lost imagery seems to be an invitation for people to create new imagery—often unknowingly in the form of an eggcorn.
The example that you present is an excellent one for the creation of new imagery. Some people may not understand the imagery of “stick in my craw” for lack of understanding the word “craw.” The substitution of a less-known word (craw) with a more-known word (claw) is a typical feature of eggcorns. But what really helps this eggcorn is the new, self-consistent imagery of “stick in my claw.” The only thing that perplexes me about this is the low occurrence of this eggcorn: A Google search generated only 6 sightings.
Examples:
Edward_ WinklemanSo why does it stick in my claw? Maybe the guilt of being an unabashed capitalist? I had a similar reaction. I think it comes from the way we try to …
edwardwinkleman.blogspot.com/2006/03/making-art-more-expensive-open-thread.html – 54k – Cached – Similar pages
Official Report – 14th March 2007But what does stick in my claw is that if I had have known the Deputy of St. Martin was rubbing his hands and did not have anything to do for 4 weeks up to …
www.statesassembly.gov.je/documents/han … 832007.htm – 479k – Cached – Similar pages
Last edited by jorkel (2007-05-14 13:39:01)
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I just had to check on a minor variation to get a few more Google hits… “sticks in my claw” gets about 150. More examples…
Edward_ WinklemanAs HH points out, it’s mostly the catalog that sticks in my claw. I’ve lost respect for the museum, but it’s the flatout lie therein about what this …
edwardwinkleman.blogspot.com/2006/01/what-does-it-mean-to-see-masterpiece.html – 88k – Cached – Similar pages
The Evolution of the Bible – Google Books Resultby Jay Charles – 2006 – 212 pages
The big thing that sticks in my claw is that these Holy men are responsible for these millions of helpless souls, and they never once had to pay for …
books.google.com/books?isbn=1425976018…
The Erie Canal Soda Pop Festival, Bull IslandThere are many examples of this but the one that really sticks in my claw is the Ozzy Osbroune vs the parents of a teen suicide victim(how can you call …
bullisland.blogspot.com/ – 28k – Cached – Similar pages
Georgina Joyce’s Personal Webspace And GNU LinuxNo, for me, that sticks in my claw. I’m not blind, I’ll do all I can to participate within a community whereby, we share knowledge, achievements, ...
www.perfumed-bath.co.uk/gnulinux.html – 5k – Cached – Similar pages
Last edited by jorkel (2007-05-15 10:54:30)
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“stuck in my claw” gets 6 ghits.
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A voice on the radio this morning used the expression “sticks in the crawl” which suggested the notion of being hampered in achieving a desired ease and speed, a variation of being stuck in first gear perhaps. A search revealed these intriguing claw variants which must work well in certain dialects. Tacking an L to the end of craw , on the other hand, is barely noticeable.
That word just rolls off the tongue for most people but sticks in the crawl for some. No doubt like all the rest who have gone before you …
... his unbeaten streak with Nottingham Forest and he famously retorted, “Well it sticks in the crawl a little bit because it’s Arsenal.
And while it sticks in the crawl a bit to see players like Albies and Acuna be so dominant right away, it’s important to remember the …
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Stuck in crawl gets that meaning across nicely for me, though with the crawl it sounds less natural, and the possessive variants (sticks in your crawl, stuck in my crawl) don’t work at all, for me. The “literal” meaning shows up in the following quote.
Hi Iam having the same problem only worse it is now stuck in crawl and wont advance through the gears. have you made any progress
I enjoyed this variant:
Zelda Rubinstein is not the kind of name that sticks in your crawl space. I grabbed an arm of the couch and sat upright.
I get a picture and sense of irritation very similar to the original ones, though having got stuck in crawl spaces I have a little more sympathy for the (potential) irritant as opposed to the (potentially) irritated. Lucky Zelda! The subterranean, or at least sub-floor, passages of the mind seem more natural as a metaphor for one’s memory, which I guess is being referred to, than a bird’s crop does.
Last edited by DavidTuggy (2022-01-25 12:18:22)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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Crawl space is new to me, but I have ventured beneath the floorboards without that handy term for guidance. It was more stuck or jammed space for me, though I did have the consolation of a perfectly preserved ‘Senior Service’ cigarette packet playfully discarded by a 1930s builder.
I suspect that Zelda Rubinstein will now be forever lodged in my mental crawl space, smoking furiously.
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’Senior Service’ cigarette pack(et)s are new to me. Are/were they manufactured by commercial houses? It somehow seems as if this particular pack ought to have been Lucky Strikes, for Zelda’s sake. (Can you get struck under the floorboards too?)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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David, that you should be unfamiliar with Senior Service while I greet Lucky Strikes like an old friend may be due to uneven competition between tobacco giants or possibly my early and deep embrace of nicotine products in a society where 80% of adults were smokers and advertising was everywhere. American cigarettes were notable for their soft packaging and, aside from that strange Camel, lack of imagery. While wondering whether to make some remark on the misspelling of Marlborough I find that Phillip Morris (1846 – 1873) was actually a British tobacconist whose company removed those last three letters.
Plenty of imagery on UK cigarettes. Boats on Senior Service (1925 – 2020), a reference to the Royal Navy, whose Commander James Bond smoked them when he’d tired of his more exotic blends., a capstan on the various forms of Capstan and on Player’s a bearded sailor with ‘Hero’ on his hat posed within the circle of a lifebuoy. His image was reputedly based on Charles Stewart Parnell MP, the 19th c Irish leader. Not all was nautical; the bonniest box was the cig/fag/tab of the poor, the Wild Woodbine.
There were many dozens more and I’ve hazarded a lungful of almost all of them. The class system was evident in the range and price of products and represented a rare opportunity for the socially immobilised to sample the same luxuries as the wealthy. Similarly, some form of left bank Parisian experience for prospective painterly existentialists was available in a pack of Gauloises Caporal or Gitanes and their fiery French fumes.
Such suffering was unnecessary it seems, since Sartre’s favourite cigarette was in fact Sweet Afton (1919 – 2011), an Irish brand featuring a picture of Rabbie Burns. And France’s most popular cigarette today? Marlboro!
In light of all this bounty I must remove Zelda’s Senior Service and replace them with a 20 box of Sobranie Cocktail, with gold tips and in five pastel shades. I recall with wonder a lass who painted her toe and fingernails to match her Sobranies and perhaps Zelda might like to give it a try.
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