Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
‘Shakes’ as used here is opaque. “Shapes’ makes more sense since it carries the meaning of being unfit or ‘out of shape.’
Admittedly they’re no great shapes, but you can’t really afford to dismiss them as if it’s a given we’d beat them …
www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=54488&page=2
Limerick are no great shapes, it would take a severe breakdown for Limerick to pull it off, home advantage not withstanding. ...
kerrygaa.proboards14.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=
If all thoses backdated costs have to be paid and even captured then the next quarter will be no great shapes.
www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page55 … &sn=Detail
He is no great shapes at all.. he is the best of a bad lot …
beaut.ie/blog/?p=1740
Our county champions beat theirs this year and they (like ourselves) were no great shapes in the league.
www.anfearrua.com/db.asp?a=topicdisplay&tid=484180 – 1
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A good eggcorn. Strange that it isn’t more common.
“Great shakes” may have its origin in a dice game. It’s interesting how many of the eggcorns and acorns we have discussed in recent months have (or may have) originated in gaming: chess gambits, things foisted, evenings of cross-purpose.
Parlor games, gambling and sports play a major role in the development of language. Think of all the sport related idioms that pop up in everyday speech. Jean Henry, who wrote a book about these idioms, maintains a web site (http://sportsidioms.com/) with some of the more interesting sport-derived phrases. When sport idioms encounter speech communities that aren’t familiar with the referenced sport, the potential for eggcorns increases.
Playing the language game with no holes barred makes you want to throw in the trowel, doesn’t it?
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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