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Chris -- 2025-05-10
Are some of the two hundred writers who have spelled “insecticide†as “insectaside†on their web pages thinking that an insect poison sets the bugs aside from the weeds and people that they infest? Once we subtract typos, phonetic spellings, and puns from the total, is there an eggcorn residue?
Whatever one decides, the same reasoning applies to the words “pestaside,†“infantaside,†and “herbaside,†all of which show up with more or less the same frequency. “Suiaside†and “homaside,†which require a more sophisticated interpretation of the Latin root to which “-aside†is attached, also occur, though at a slightly lower frequency.
The last example below, which divides “insect” and “aside,” is suggestive, but rare. Only a few web sites employ the word in divided form.
Caption for animation: “A human sprays insectaside on the animals’ habitat.â€
Game forum subject line: “ insectaside wont help with these bugsâ€
Cannabis forum: “just look at their insectaside sprays and make sure its safe for edible crops and gets rid of thripsâ€
Vending site caption: “Nature’s insect aside aromatherapy oil, therapeutic-grade essential in 15 ml bottle.”
Last edited by kem (2010-04-22 22:38:03)
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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