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#1 2008-07-20 00:01:40

Craig C Clarke
Eggcornista
Registered: 2005-11-18
Posts: 233
Website

Ramshackle/Ranshakle - is one of these an eggcorn?

Just encountered the word ranshakle – spelled without the letter c, while playing Prolific on Facebook. (Prolific is an obsession, for those unfamiliar it’s a boggle-style word game played against others online.)
Ranshakle is in the SOWPODS dictionary, and google searches turn it up used as I personally am used to seeing ramshackle, most of these sightings seem to be from UK “speakers.”

I could see how ramshackle might be an eggcorn of ranshakle, though I have no idea then what the etymology of ranshakle would be.

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#2 2008-07-21 07:59:37

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

Re: Ramshackle/Ranshakle - is one of these an eggcorn?

Just for the sake of completeness, I thought I might point out this one…

ramsack for ransack by booboo Contribute! 7 2007-06-05 21:49:17 by patschwieterman

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#3 2008-07-23 11:35:47

nilep
Eggcornista
Registered: 2007-03-21
Posts: 291

Re: Ramshackle/Ranshakle - is one of these an eggcorn?

For what it’s worth, the Oxford English Dictionary gives ramshack as a regional (US south and midlands) variant of ransack, dated from 1893. It gives ransackle as a (Obs. exc. north. dial.) variant of to ransack from 1621.

OED dates ramshakle from 1820 and ramshackled from 1675. Both have the same meaning. The first quotation for the latter reads:

1675 S. SEWALL Diary 31 July (1973) I. 12 A window which was all ranshacled.

It seems a variety of spellings have been used for several centuries.

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