Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
“camp robber” is a common name for the Gray Jay bird. It is also some times heard as “camp robin”, likely because it sounds similar, though this usage suggests the bird is some form of robin instead of a jay. The name “camp robber” is very representative of the birds behavior where as “camp robin” is misleading.
example:
“camp robber n Also camp robin,”
http://www.pbs.org/speak/words/tracktha … tw/?i=1195
Last edited by alf7000821 (2009-07-21 17:55:05)
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Welcome to the forum, alf. Anyone who does any hiking in the mountains of Western Canada is very familiar with these birds. I’d heard the name “Camp robber” for them, but never “Camp robin”. The latter is an evident eggcorn, backed up by the citations from the Dictionary of American Regional English in your link, dating back six decades. They are about the size of a robin, though completely different in behaviour and especially vocalizations.
We always called them whiskey jacks. I could never see the connection of the drink and the bird – the noise they make sounds nothing like “whiskey”, for instance. Nevertheless, I was surprised to see on the Wikipedia site that whiskey jack is an anglicized rendition of a name for a Trickster creature from native Indian mythology, variously called wiskedjak, whiskachon, wisakadjak, and so on. A fitting name for these bold thieves who will rob you blind if you forget to remove all food and anything portable from around the camp before hitting the sack.
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Hey, thanks for the welcome.
Does this mean I’ve earned my first eggcorn? What is the next step to get it submitted to the database?
I’m from Western Washington and Montana. These birds are very common here as well. I was hiking with a friend of mine when we ran across a roving band of these thieves. My friend is from India and he is very particular about different pronunciations of the English language. His extra attention helped me identify this eggcorn.
Last edited by alf7000821 (2009-07-21 18:01:29)
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Here is photographic evidence of thier bold heist:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bala_/3738 … 722238130/
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I also found an example in The Outdoor Survival Handbook:
http://books.google.com/books?id=nlZ4Hn … t&resnum=2
Last edited by alf7000821 (2009-07-21 18:21:46)
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Hi, alf7000821. I agree with burred—I find this fairly convincing as an eggcorn. It’s rare online; I could find only a tiny handful of clear instances (and I think your books.google.com citation may be referring to another bird), but the reshaping introduces a nice avian specificity lacking in the original.
I’m afraid you shouldn’t hold your breath waiting for a Database entry. The Forum and the Database are almost separate entities these days, and entries from the former make it into the latter only infrequently. But the forum has become a much-viewed showcase in its own right, and we hope you’ll keep posting.
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