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Chris -- 2018-04-11

#1 2007-06-30 14:22:55

Peter Forster
Eggcornista
From: UK
Registered: 2006-09-06
Posts: 1224

"boarishness" for "boorishness"

boorishness – 109,000 ghits
boarishness – 681 ghits
borishness – 437 ghits
boerishness – 4 ghits

Boorish behaviour could be described as pushy/selfish/piglike, which covers the boar, but the image of ‘borishness’ doesn’t work half so well, even though boors may be as boring as they’re boorish. The small presence of ‘boer’ adds little but can’t be ignored. All four (boor/boar/bore/boer) would be roughly homophonic for most of the English speakers I know, and I’ve no idea at all whether an eggcorn is really at work in here at all but it seems worth sharing…

Your feigned perspicacity is superfluous, and matched only by your monumental ignorance, not to mention your boarishness. Get a life you twit. ...
www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php … 38p22.html – 89k – Supplemental Result – Cached

As grating and narrow as rooney is, and he is, the boarishness hangs out and we know where he stands. It’s terrifying to know there are many more rooneys …
www.m-f-d.org/topic/17.000108.6792.php – 34k – Supplemental Result – Cached

Damn straight, and it your job to neutralise all the boarishness around here by throwing rose petals and getting everyone a hot chocolate. Ya wet fairy. ...
www.forevergaming.com/forums/showpost.p … ostcount=9 – 9k – Supplemental Result – Cached

... Australia’s recent dominance would be much easier to stomach if it didn’t also come with their usual side order of arrogance, boarishness & sledging. ...
www.cricket247.org/community/showthread … 37&page=10 – 106k – Supplemental Result – Cached

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#2 2007-06-30 19:05:27

booboo
Eggcornista
From: Austin, Tx
Registered: 2007-04-01
Posts: 179

Re: "boarishness" for "boorishness"

I think there definitely is. I never knew, as a young man, what a boor was. When I heard someone was a boor, I thought they must have meant “bore” or “boar”, each one indicating some sort of antisocial behavior, which was clearly indicated by the original context. I just could not figure out why anyone would care that much whether or not someone’s ability to interact was engaging enough, or not. I mean, if they’re actually boring, it seems a little rude to point it out so emphatically. Of course, if they’re acting like a boar that could surely justify someone taking the trouble to complain about it if it offended them. Little did I know, it’s just a stupid redneck, of which my native Texas is replete. Hell, they’re probably talking about me!

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#3 2014-09-20 12:05:19

kem
Eggcornista
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 2853

Re: "boarishness" for "boorishness"

The big find here is, I think, “borish” and “borishness.” “Borish” as a spelling for “boorish” occurs about a tenth of one percent of the time. As the Google Ngram chart shows: (ignore the nineteenth-century spike—it’s caused by frequent quotations of a line from Shakespeare. In Shakespeare’s orthographically loose day, “boorish” could be spelled “borish.”)

The semantics of the switch are fairly clear. Someone who is a boor is more than just insensitive—the person is also boring.

Last edited by kem (2014-12-27 13:21:29)


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

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