Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
“Dreadnought†has been part of the English language since at least the seventeenth century. It has been applied to a number of objects over the centuries-ships, cloth, wheat strains. In this post I’m interested in the application of the term to ships. Several British ships have borne the name “HMS Dreadnought.” In the early twentieth century the name “HMS Dreadnought” was given to the first of a series of large battleships. The media soon began to call any large battleship a “dreadnought.”
“Dreadnought†is compounded, of course, from “dread†(=fear) and “nought†(=nothing). The term “nought” is relatively obscure. This obscurity has led some people to replace the confusing “nought” with the nautical term “knot.” “Dreadknot,†when used for a battleship, seems like it might be an eggcorn. Here are two examples of “dreadknot†used for a battleship:
From a military quiz on a bulletin board: “Only 1 dreadknot type battleship is still afloat, which one is it?†(http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/73/t291 … viewing/#0)
Post on a history forum: “the Italian navy had superior fire-power and range over British Dreadknots †(the Italian navy had superior fire-power and range over British Dreadknots) (http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. … 9&start=15)
When I was chasing down this eggcorn I noticed that the term “dreadknots†was also used to describe hair. It seems to substitute for “dreadlocks†in several contexts. Two examples:
Describing the appearance of a character in a role-playing game: “She is currently wearing her waist-length hair in tight dread-knots for traveling†(http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Suzanna_Allgood) [An accompanying picture makes it clear that the writer is talking about dreadlocks.]
A sailing blog: “His grey dread knots are indicative of his unique attitudes and style, and although he says he calms down, he admits his car is held together with stickered slogans.†(http://corbettgonesailing.blogspot.com/ … tales.html)
A few months ago, you may recall, we had an eggcorn hunt based on the word “dreadlocks†(http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … p?pid=7851). We found several good eggcorns. “Dreadknots†can now be added to the list. The rationale for the replacement is transparent: dreadlocks are constructed from a sequence of tight knots.
I’m not certain, however, that every instance “dreadknots†in hair contexts are eggcorns for the word “dreadlocks.†The word “dreadknot†may describe some kind of hair arrangement that is distinct from classical dreadlocks. Do some language communities differentiate these words? If so, I hope someone with a hairdressing background will help us tease them apart.
Last edited by kem (2009-02-23 11:43:25)
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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The use of (non-hair) locks to make things secure and knots for the same purpose is probably involved. It doesn’t feel like a straight eggcorn to me: it’s a malaprop of dreadnought for dreadlock , with dreadknot as an eggcorn on top of that. But that in a way only makes it all the more interesting a reshaping.
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fwiw dreadnot also occurs. It may be taken as an alternate spelling, or a reshaping with minimal semantic impact:
We have a disabled dreadnot, 16 necron warriors, 2 destroyers which are surrounded … I face out leaving a squad of 6 marines and our war amp dreadnought. ...
Last edited by DavidTuggy (2009-02-23 20:15:23)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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kem wrote:
Do some language communities differentiate these words? If so, I hope someone with a hairdressing background will help us tease them apart.
Aaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahaaaaaaa!!! Stop, kem, you’re killin’ me! Someone stop him before he puns again!
Dixon
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Point for Wragg. I was going to add ”(pun intended),” then I thought, “let’s see if anyone is awake out there.”
The radio comedian Fred Allen is supposed to have said “Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted.”
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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