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
(Before anyone chimes in with “Thirty Days Have September” ... please forget about it).
The first thing I’d like to point out is that it’s useful to locate testimonials like the one below when hunting for eggcorns. Many times we can’t tell whether an eggcorn candidate was a typo (or some other noneggcorn category). At least with a testimonial we have the actual frame of mind of the utterer…
Sierra Mountain Times » Archive » Thirty Days Hath September
I never really understood the phrase because I always thought it started “thirty days past septemberâ€. Makes much mores sense now. Thanks.
mysierramountaintimes.com/?p=2514 · Cached page
The second point I’d like to make relates to whether we should consider the current example a Mondegreen or an Eggcorn. Most Mondegreens are simply misheard song lyrics—though, the category is actually a bit broader than just that. The current example contains a rhyme (akin to a song) which is invoked as part of the mnemonic. And some mnemonics have gained a widespread usage that almost rivals idioms. So, how should the current example be viewed? Any thoughts?
Last edited by jorkel (2009-06-04 22:40:32)
Offline
Very much agreed re the value of testimonials.
.
I would certainly consider this a (mild) mondegreen, but it is not an eggcorn. The point is given away by the comment “Makes much mores [sic] sense now.†Correcting an eggcorn doesn’t make more sense, just different sense. “30 days past Sept†doesn’t make sense in the context in which it is used—ergo, it is not an eggcorn.
Last edited by DavidTuggy (2009-06-05 09:54:09)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
Offline
I agree that this is a (marginal) mondegreen, and is not an eggcorn.
The former fact, however, does not determine the latter. The categories of mondegreen, malapropism, and eggcorn overlap. (I don’t think I’m stating anything new here.)
It’s sort of akin to asking whether a piece of gypsum is a stone, a mineral, or a crystal. The answer, in each case, is ‘yes’.
(My thoughts on testimony from perpetrators are here, inter alia.)
Offline