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
I thought this was already onsite, but couldn’t find it; apologies if someone beat me to it.
The phrase “to ride herd†seems ripe for eggcorning for at least a couple of reasons. It has always struck me as odd – that adverbial use of “herd†sounds awkward to my ear (inexplicably, “to ride shotgun†doesn’t bother me). And it’s another one of those terms that arose when a larger segment of the population was aware of the details of ranching and farming. The OED gives the following definition/explanation for the phrase:
h. to ride herd on (rarely, over): to guard and control (a herd of cattle) by riding on its perimeter; also transf., to keep guard over, be in charge of, keep in check; to boss, subject to discipline. N. Amer.
“To ride hurt on someone†still feels a bit grammatically odd to me, but in a way it makes more sense. We often talk about “riding†someone about/for something, and riding hurt on them is basically “riding†them till it hurts.
This is fairly rare – about 10 ughits. Examples:
Girls, we have to stop being our own worst enemies. We look in the mirror, scrutinize our body images, our flaws, and ride hurt on ourselves to the point we either become obsessive with fitness, or put off by the knowledge that we will never quite reach that perfect body image we all secretly seek.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl … tml?cat=51
Face it; we are a society that over emphasizes the outer appearance. There is this inner need to always look good and ride hurt on ourselves when we do not.
http://digg.com/people/How_to_Look_Slen … ion_Tricks
[This citation and the one before it appeared on different sites about a year apart, but I think they were written by the same person—the surname is given in only one case, but both writers have the same first name.]
You as a parent need to stop riding hurt on him, and sit down calmly and rationally and speak with your child, not at your child.
http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/426558.aspx?p=3
If flickr staff started riding hurt on people for mentioning other services that would be really dumb, and counterproductive to their business goals
http://www.flickr.com/help/forum/87999/?search=hd
Last edited by patschwieterman (2009-04-18 14:10:34)
Offline
This one may be rare, but is so beautiful and undeniably eggcornish that I’ve used it to open a file today for certain-to-be-contenders for best of the year. It fits the criterion of going from an obscure usage to a simpler one (well, at least riding hurt on is more direct and less metaphorical). Hurts so good.
Last edited by burred (2009-04-18 22:38:10)
Offline