Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
You are not logged in.
Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to
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
Pages: 1
Heard this in the same NPR news story about a small town that was just now getting the Internet (I honestly don’t remember why dial-up was not available; perhaps it was just that they were getting broadband?); the other submission I made from that same story was about putting all one’s marbles in one basket.
One of the interviewees said something about “taking [it] one step at the time.” From her usage it was clear she was using it the same way as we might say “I’m taking it one step at a time,” but she clearly said “the” rather than “a.”
Possible eggcorn? Might she look at it with a different meaning because she used “the”?
Frankly, it seemed more interesting when I heard her say it than what it does now. :-) But I thought I’d throw it out there anyway for discussion.
Feeling quite combobulated.
Offline
“at the time” is certainly an off-the-shelf pre-assembled phrase. Seems more malapropish than eggcornish in that the substitution doesn’t make a lot of sense.
It’s interesting how you can hardly listen, with your ears open, to a half-hour or so of people talking in public, without picking up one or two oddities.
Last edited by DavidTuggy (2008-07-15 15:35:26)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
Offline
Pages: 1