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Chris -- 2018-04-11
A friend of mine who’s from China told me the other day that he still hadn’t had “breakfirst†yet even though it was past noon. I didn’t want to make him self-conscious, so I passed up that opportunity for access into an eggorner’s brain. But I googled it the first chance I got.
This is very common on the web – 17k rghits – though it’s a good bet that the great bulk of instances are authored by non-native speakers of English. Still, I think it makes a lot of sense – breakfast is the first meal of the day. And if the writers are acquainted with a more colloquial brand of English – and many using the word clearly are – they may be aware of expressions like “a food break,†etc.
Weirdly, a disproportionately large number of citations appeared to have been written by Danes. To test that impression, I went looking for the phrase “bed and breakfirst†while using the language filters in Google’s advanced search. I only got a handful each in Swedish and Norwegian, but there were over 70 in Danish. What’s going on? There is a breakfast bar called “Breakfirst†that’s made in Scandinavia, and that might be running a bit of interference. But the company that makes it is based in Sweden. Huh. Maybe there are just more Danes writing in English than Norwegians or Swedes. In any case, people of many linguistic backgrounds have written “breakfirst.†Examples:
Gorgeous Home With Updates In Great Condition! Open Island Kitchen With Breakfirst Bar, Ceramic Tiles In Hallway, Garden Bath Tub In Master.
http://www.door84.com/110487-1603-Lake- … 72515.html
[Some may be written by native speakers. This is from an ad for a house for sale in Allen, TX. It’s apparently still available if anyone’s interested – $176,000.]
Let’s enjoy a great breakfirst in our quiet and colored place beside a garden
http://www.hotelmontpensierparis.com/la … ish/pages/
“we slept there, ate breakfirst 2 times, because we thought it was a poor breakfirst.”
http://www.activehotels.com/1/4/1149501 … javik.html
[One of many instances of “breakfirst†written by a Dane.]
And, the fastest breakfirst, because you can prepare it very well is a fruit smoothie with some jogurt or butter milk or whey and hackled oatflakes.
http://www.jamieoliver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=31319
[Written by a German. “Hackled�]
On the label HEAT says to take 1 hr 15 mins before breakfirst. But say if i wake up at 630am… take my HEAT capsules, i gotta wait damn long for my breakfirst. It can kill me man(too hungry)! Infact i probably will prioritized my breakfirst, its too impt to me. Now i normally just pop in a capsule first thing in the morning. Go shower and do my “business” then i will take my breakfirst, a interval of about 15mins to half an hr after I taken HEAT.
http://www.nutri-forefront.com/index.ph … 3&id=27738
The pool and gym are small. Still, thanks to the winter, there’s nobody there. My girlfriend and I totally enjoyed the pool. We had breakfirst in the morring.
http://www.travelpod.com/hotel/Comfort_ … ronto.html
Last edited by patschwieterman (2008-11-28 23:38:07)
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A paradigm eggcorn.
I’ve puzzled over the groupings of some of these slips. I suspect that we are looking at the intrusion of language communities into cyberspace. “Dialects,” in other words. The term “dialect” seems outmoded, though, wedded to geographical parochialisms and family socializations that can’t be applied to the digital universe. We need some term that positions these groupings in our (supposedly but obviously not) flat world. “Webolects,” perhaps?
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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Kem—I’m not sure what you mean by “groupings.” But if you’re suggesting that non-native speakers are passing reshapings like this around among themselves, I think you’re clearly right.
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Cyberlects? Virtualects? Digitalects? Naah.
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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I’m on my way back from China, where my guide (a student) also called it breakfirst.
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While nobody has suggested it here explicitly, I must say that the idea that NNS ones are somehow second-class eggcorns compared to NS ones is being overtaken by circumstances. I myself have written “of course some of these are reshapings by non-natives” and now I wonder why.
Scandinavians and Dutch, among others, have such a near-native command of English that any mistakes they make in it are very interesting. They are hardly different from many bilingual communities in English-speaking countries, and often perhaps “better” at English, whatever that means. Is Holland an English speaking country? Is India? Indian English is gaining recognition as a variant of English just like any other. Chinese English might be well on its way. I suppose for there to be a standard Chinese English, or Dutch English for that matter, any variations would have to be consistent and widespread.On the plain in Spain where it mainly rains.
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NNS provide a fresh perspective on the language. Other important progenitors include, in no particular order, gamers, fan fiction writers, online sermoners, political blog commenters, medical support groups and yahoo questioners.
Here’s another simbling, that may be a WTFT.
As a family we enjoy visiting Eat’N Park on Sunday mornings for their endless buffet. This is very good for people who enjoy breakfoods.
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/372090014 … urant-york
Make Breakfoods for dinner, like eggs and french toast with sausage, or pancakes.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index … 821AAAv2CL
We have breakfoods all the time at my house for dinner.
http://www.lovediscussions.com/parentin … ner-2.html
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I (and I would bet others) would be quite capable of using “breakfoods†in these ways on purpose. It seems more likely to be a sort of contraction of “breakfast foods†and is funny enough and useful enough that I can see it being a standard joke for some and later just a standard usage once the jokiness fades completely. Perhaps an eggcorn for some. Not easily a WTFT, I shouldn’t think.
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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