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Chris -- 2018-04-11

#1 2009-12-08 10:41:34

markstock
Member
Registered: 2009-12-08
Posts: 4

Died-in-the-wool

I can’t believe nobody has posted this one yet.

Dyed in the wool [wiktionary.org]: (idiomatic, figuratively) Firmly established in a person’s beliefs or habits; deeply ingrained in the nature of a person or thing.

Died-in-the-wool: So firmly established that it’s effectively dead and stuck?

First noticed it here: http://www.safehaven.com/article-15221.htm, last paragraph, first sentence.

Google battle shows significant use of both terms, with “dyed” in the lead by 10:1.

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#2 2009-12-08 11:42:57

kem
Eggcornista
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 2853

Re: Died-in-the-wool

Yes, surprising that we missed that one. Welcome to the forum, Mark.

Perhaps a little fertilization from “diehard,” referring to someone opposed to change.

Last edited by kem (2009-12-08 11:43:21)


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

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#3 2009-12-11 09:10:04

AdamVero
Eggcornista
From: Leeds, UK
Registered: 2007-09-04
Posts: 69
Website

Re: Died-in-the-wool

Maybe a sheep tick that won’t let go would be “died in the wool”.

Borderline spelling / eggcorn. but I think it just about falls into eggcorn territory on the basis that a “died in the wool Liberal” (or any other political or religious beliver) would be one until they died, still stuck in the same beliefs


Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will buy a ridiculous hat – Scott Adams (author of Dilbert)
Build a man a fire and he will be warm for a day; set a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life – Terry Pratchett
http://blog.meteorit.co.uk

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#4 2009-12-12 04:53:19

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2714
Website

Re: Died-in-the-wool

I’ve wondered if this one has blending with “dead in the water” involved as well.
.
An interesting related usage—probably consciously done, though:

A lovely couple came down to visit: she died in the wooliest liberal dogma; and he, an old friend from law school, who knows enough about domestic tranquility to let many things pass without comment.


*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

(Possible Corollary: it is, and we are .)

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#5 2009-12-12 07:14:28

JuanTwoThree
Eggcornista
From: Spain
Registered: 2009-08-15
Posts: 455

Re: Died-in-the-wool

I think I can go one better, unless I’ve been beaten to it:

” you’re a died-in-the-wood Empiricist…. My favorite debate partner is a died-in-the-wood objectivist…... If you’re a died-in-the-wood Bush hater….... but I use the EVF with both cameras as a died in the wood SLR man…...as a died in the wood vegemite fan ”

Anyone care to ratiocinate?

This makes sense though:

I am a tied-in-the-wool liberal and I found this comic absolutely hysterical….... Killer stuff that you don’t have to be a tied in the wool folkie to love…..... I’m a tied-in-the-wool bibliophile….... I’m a tied-in-the-wool Republican…. a tied in the wool Islamist”

Last edited by JuanTwoThree (2009-12-12 08:00:53)


On the plain in Spain where it mainly rains.

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#6 2009-12-12 11:35:04

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2714
Website

Re: Died-in-the-wool

Take a larger suitcase if you are planning to buy souvenirs, those heavy Irish wood sweaters take up a lot of room!

The output is not dyed in concrete

he was a dyed-in-the-red communist

That’s my plan, but it’s not cast in stone

It can’t be written in concrete

baked in concrete

a dye-hard vegetarian

in a situation like this I am not drawing a cast-iron line.

Amazin’ what people will come off with!


*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

(Possible Corollary: it is, and we are .)

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#7 2009-12-12 11:59:50

Peter Forster
Eggcornista
From: UK
Registered: 2006-09-06
Posts: 1224

Re: Died-in-the-wool

I could have sworn I’d seen this on here before, complete with several comments, but I can’t relocate it. All variants seem reasonably viable to me but I particularly like ‘died-in-the-wood’ which suggests someone Thoreau-like, refusing to bend the knee to civil government. As one who has spent many hours trying to renovate old furniture I find ‘dyed in the wood’ another apt re-imaging:

... but it doesn’t dare say this in public for fear of alienating dyed-in-the-wood Tories who hanker after a bygone age of an isolated but powerful England. ...
www.wealden.libdems.org/ – Cached

I am a true blue, dyed in the wood science fiction fan. But only if the fiction relates to the way science affects human beings. A tech/tech novel may be …
www.amazon.co.uk › ... › Authors, AZ › R › Russell, Mary Doria – Cached

There is a handful of ‘dyed in the woad’ too, but sadly they seem to be deliberate wordplay.

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#8 2009-12-13 01:05:30

patschwieterman
Administrator
From: California
Registered: 2005-10-25
Posts: 1680

Re: Died-in-the-wool

I’ve had “dyed-hard” on my to-do list for a while, but this seems like a good place to put it. “Die-hard” and “dyed in the wool” are virtually synonyms, so a blend was probably inevitable. My final citation below may be too good to believe, however. Examples:

I am not a dyed-hard sports enthusiast either, but I know who Canzano is because I’m a journalist who works for another media outlet in this market and he’s well known in this state and his writing is extremely talented and he seems to have y’all right where he wants you, reading him and talking about him and writing about him.
http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/200 … orever.php

By the way know it all “BENIGHSE” your old mother-in-law is a dyed hard OLDIE DEMOCRAT as my folks “once” were
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2008/08/07 … d-mccain/2

Thats true but we need to be ‘party blind’ and not a dyed hard republican or democrat.
http://www.nissanclub.com/forums/off-to … ney-2.html

Is it someone who is not a dyed hard in the wool Republican toe liner?
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthrea … 971&page=2

Last edited by patschwieterman (2009-12-13 01:06:06)

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#9 2009-12-14 02:19:46

patschwieterman
Administrator
From: California
Registered: 2005-10-25
Posts: 1680

Re: Died-in-the-wool

And I just noticed that there are about 5 hits for “dried in the wool.”

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