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#1 2007-08-12 15:32:27

Peter Forster
Eggcornista
From: UK
Registered: 2006-09-06
Posts: 1222

'distracked' for 'distract'

To be distracted can mean to lose track, or be dis-tracked; I realise there remains the problem of tenses, but if it doesn’t worry those who use this variant I don’t see why I should fret too much…

You distracked me with lude comments about my hotdog. Thing you’re picked on most about?:, my grades. Who’s your longest known friend?:, dana. Newest? ...
blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=8754502&blogID=278399893&Mytoken=A1E… – 43k – Cached

i had something to comment you about. but then my sister distracked me by asking how to spell recognize, and now i forget.. it’s sad she’s a worst speller …
profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=143456650 – 122k – Cached

Lois had started off getting the heroines at the Hall of Justiced to help her distracked him, while she studied his powers and how to get better powers …
www.superstories.net/addventure/chapter.aspx?ID=54315 – 10k – Cached

Crono wondered how it got there, but suddenly, a sound distracked him. He turned around, but couldn´t see anything strange. “Anyone here? ...
www.icybrian.com/fanfic/martinberglund/darkstorm2.html – 13k – Cached

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#2 2007-08-12 19:51:57

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

Re: 'distracked' for 'distract'

This is an odd one…I notice that some of the users had to break the rules of tense in mid-sentence to utilize this possible eggcorn. That, and other atrocious spelling errors. Still, I think the principles of eggcorning are active here: to take someone “off track” would certainly divert their attention from the subject at hand. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that some people would not readily embrace a word as common as “distract”- perhaps the eggcorn was formed in their early years (new term here?) and it is therefore, with their fellow utterers, a collection of isolated events: as opposed to more common eggcorn propogation methods (archaic phrases with more commonly misunderstood words).

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#3 2007-08-12 21:58:55

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

Re: 'distracked' for 'distract'

Although we’ve had posts relating to “tract,” I like the current post on “distract” better because its a far more common word. 1460 Google hits is pretty darn good. The imagery works out well even if the grammar isn’t perfect. (How can I complain when I once mistook “holed up” for “hold up”?)

“tract record” for “track record” by egruner Contribute! 1 2006-08-11 07:19:53 by patschwieterman
“take the wrong track (or) tact” for “take the wrong tack” by drshi Contribute! 4 2006-04-21 22:18:54 by drshi
“intestinal track” for “intestinal tract” by drshi Contribute! 3 2006-05-02 06:00:11 by Laura

Last edited by jorkel (2007-08-12 22:01:36)

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#4 2007-08-13 00:20:36

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

Re: 'distracked' for 'distract'

What a cool find—it’s a bit remarkable that it didn’t turn up sooner.

I got 1400 hits for “distracking,” so the form without the “t” is just plainly being used as a regularly conjugated verb by some writers.

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#5 2007-08-13 18:31:15

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

Re: 'distracked' for 'distract'

I found 1 hit for distrackeding….yeah, I just had to see if someone would do it. Thank you, anonymouse person. As silly as it may seem, I think the example reinforces the presence of the mental machinations necessary for the creation of eggcorns. That is, in this case, taking the eggcorn “distracked” and maintaining allegiance to the original version, even to the point of “double-tensing” the word (the examples in the original submission, where there are tense conflicts in mid-sentence, I think come from the same motivation, and not from an inability to stay in tense). How interesting it must be, if one has embraced an eggcorn such as “distracked” to run into these situations. I say so, while laughing at myself, that the sound of the “gears stripping” in the mind just has to be a riot! What a funny corner we can navigate ourselves into, sometimes. This has been a great example and I appreciate how much it reveals about us all.

A quick side note: I believe these examples show where many of us would drop an eggcorn from our vocabulary due to the natural course of our individual linguistic development, and yet these utterers did not. This is very revealing. It illustrates how strongly eggcorns take root in our psyche.

Last edited by booboo (2007-08-13 19:00:00)

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