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Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
We’re used to eggcorns that are pronounced the same but spelt differently, so that the re-structuring betrays itself in the written form. We also find, from time to time, those that are spelt the same but whose restructuring reveals itself in the pronunciation.
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This morning, someone close to me, reporting what had been written in a Facebook message said (more or less —in particular I am not sure the word “inside†was there):
She talked about how hard it was for the mothers to send their kids away for three months at a time. She says her mother still tears up (inside) when she thinks about it.
The word tears was pronounced like tares , not like tiers . Checking later with the speaker, she says she recognizes that the standard pronunciation is tiers and the form has reference to lachrymose behavior, but she thinks she probably did say tares and think of ripping. This of course goes along with feeling all torn up (or “all tore up†as it is commonly expressed) emotionally. The verb meaning “ripâ€, of course, has both a transitive and an intransitive version established (i.e. both “it tore†and “she tore it†are quite standard). The substitution would work in just about all contexts where the phrase is used.
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I tried looking for some results online of “s/he tore up†meaning “s/he got all emotionalâ€, but gave up pretty quick. Maybe some of you can find them. (There’re so many meanings for “tear up†that there’s a lot to sift through with every search I could think of, right off the top of my bat.) Here’s a possible:
I know the real her… ive seen it i know when something is wrong with her… i know when she will not admitt she needs someone but she tore up inside… no one else does… she knows the same about me… we do not open up or really show our selves to anyone.
Anyhow, a pretty stealthy potential eggcorn, I think.
Last edited by DavidTuggy (2010-07-14 13:10:50)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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Great idea. There are scads of “eyes tore up” and a couple of “eyes tore open”, maybe that form provides an in.
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Possibly this one (Or maybe it goes in the “*really* irregular strong verbs†category along with “froke out†and “outgrabe (in despair)†and others):
In the final moments, one particular member tore up and cried himself a river. Who was this member? You’ll just have to watch the finale
But not this one:
I uusually have only one tear a show, but this time I was TORE up and cried about twelve tears.
Last edited by DavidTuggy (2010-07-14 19:38:36)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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Wonderfully confusing. It remains to be sussed whether they are making a connection between tears and tears, or whether as you say they just have developed an idiosyncratic conjugation for the watery kind. Tears could make the round trip; that would be hard to find.
fanfic
Yuki’s eyes tore up at that and she rushed into his arms, her tears flowing freely.
Touching stories
I couldn’t help it; my eyes tore up.
Three for one
A flame burst from her neck, tearing though her persona, the warmth of it was almost too much for her as her eyes tore up with tears.
Last edited by David Bird (2010-07-14 20:18:07)
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