Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
‘Unkempt’ derives from the middle English word for ‘combed,’ and has been generalized to mean ‘dirty’ or ‘inadequately groomed.’ Which is how you or your dog gets if no one is keeping up on hygiene, hence the overlap in meaning. The substitution seems common. I got 700+ ghits searching for ‘unkept + ‘grooming’-
As well as making sure that all that unkept hair of yours is kept nice and tidy…
www.gooshing.co.uk/razors_trimmers/remi … tem_pg200/
Lack of grooming may be perceived as being unkept or unclean.
www.thecreativestudio.com/main.jsp?nav= … =steps.jsp
Unclean, unkept, inappropriate dress or grooming which adversely affects proper. performance of duties or the image of the employer…
dma.wi.gov/devops/docview.asp?docid=2759
...showing off sparse stubble just looks unkept…
mensfashion.about.com/od/celebritystyle/ig/Fashion-at-the-78th-Oscars/JamesMcAvoy.htm
I just like his seemingly unkept mess of curls—he’s cute enough to get away with it.
mensfashion.about.com/od/celebritystyle/ss/CurlyHair_3.htm
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Ken:
I covered this one before. Officially, I guess we’d have to attribute it to Brians…
Paul Brians’ Common Errors in English Usage by jorkel Eggcornology 8 2007-09-21 11:17:44 by TootsNYC
UnKEPT (unkempt) by jorkel Contribute! 0 2006-11-07 07:07:31 by jorkel
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I’m sorry to be clogging up the forum with repeats; the search functions are definitely not working (I searched ‘unkempt’ before submitting this and got nothing.)
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not to mention the even-more-glorious “unklempt,” which makes only one appearance on Google—naturally by a patriotic defender of the English language against Mexican subversion:
“Even the once-plentiful water fowl that had populated the now-unklempt parks are leaving (not as eager as you to fall prey to the pillaging foreigners,I guess).I’ve been to the “rallies” where hundreds raised the Mexican flag, while razing Old Glory.”
Apparently a cross between “unkempt” and “farklempt.”
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