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#1 2009-05-28 12:11:06

Peter Forster
Eggcornista
From: UK
Registered: 2006-09-06
Posts: 1258

'tempermental' for 'temperamental'

‘Temperament’ from L. temperamentum, meaning a “proper mixture” became “habit of mind, natural disposition” by 1821 and acquired the sense of “moody” from 1901. In its adjectival guise, temperamental, it’s easy for the eye or even the ear to neglect the a which separates ‘mental’ and ‘temper’ and to mistake them for the etymological roots of the word:

Yes I have temper mental angry young adolescent males, who don’t like to hear the truth, trolls, people who don’t take their meds and fire …

17 Feb 2009 … Gets alot right but is very temper-mental. Piss him off by disagreeing with him and you find suddenly you’re banned. Bit of a bully. ...

What a cute dog, when she sleeps, otherwise she’s a temper-mental brat. I’m thinking of getting her spade, it might calm her down a little. ...

7 Apr 2009 … The economic status left his father temper-mental and explosive, resorting to beating his child. The next image I chose is a man, ...

tempermental – 43 definitions – One who often has outrageous “episodes”,might as well be mentaly handicaped, Someone who gets very tempermental whe…
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tempermental – 28k – Cached

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#2 2009-05-28 14:39:28

kem
Eggcornista
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 2872

Re: 'tempermental' for 'temperamental'

I don’t know what you say in your village, but on this side of the lake we often say “TEM-purr-MEN-tull” for temperamental, leaving out the third syllable, even when we are fully aware of its spelling (don’t even ask about the “r” in “February”)

Good find.


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

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#3 2009-05-29 04:16:10

Peter Forster
Eggcornista
From: UK
Registered: 2006-09-06
Posts: 1258

Re: 'tempermental' for 'temperamental'

Hardly anyone in my village agrees on the pronunciation of anything but, fwiw, I’d say”tem-pruh-MEN-tull” (can I ask about the first “r” in “library” instead?)

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