Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
There are two common kinds of baton switch. One is a electrical switch with a small lever. The other is the passage of a baton between runners in a relay race. Either of them makes a cute eggcorn for the bait and switch scam, where what is offered is not what is delivered—the old switcheroo. Substitution of “baton” for “bait and” occurs most commonly in transcripts from speech. It’s hard to tell how many of those were actually verbal eggcorns, and how many were the computer pulling a “switch and bait” on me. I’ve included two of those here. The others look genuine.
Government committee minutes
The Department of Finance rule concerns him as a real estate agent advertising for help to distressed homeowners, if they qualify for a loan modification, but if they do not then he would have to switch them to a short sale. Under rule 40 when he has to switch his clients from a loan modification to a short sale it could be interpreted as a baton switch tactic.
Health subcommittee transcription=
And then with the potential of a baton switch that can exist, and formulary being changed on the—after you’ve signed up, that just makes things so much worse.
Gamer gear
Now, the price I paid for the Premium I could now get the Elite for. This really ticks me off. It’s shotty retail tactics at best and borders on Baton Switch.
Malay current affairs
BN managed to take “what is due to the settlers†and changed the platform to “see we are giving you rewards†must be applauded. This is a classic baton switch and BN is pro in this.
E-commerce rating
Horrible Customer Service. They are a baton switch service. Wonderful at pre-sale and terrible service after post sale.
Okay, admittedly its rare, and its hard to see how you could confuse “bait and” and “baton”. But the gardener is drawn to the sport (is that the word for a mutant flower?).
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Even harder to account for is bat and switch, unless some obscure sporting metaphor is at work. If it weren’t for that sibilant I’d suspect some kind of Hallowe’enish trickery:
So we called and the clerk said he could not honor the coupon, but had a room for 48, which was bat-and-switch but still cheaper than anywhere else.
Classic bat-and-switch with Meade Park and the neighborhood.
I didn’t realize that this at the time but this was a bat and switch tactic.
Last edited by Peter Forster (2010-08-15 03:06:31)
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In baseball we have something called a “switch hitter,” a person who can bat left- or right-handed, that could be metaphor behind “bat and switch.” Apparently you cricket players do it too and call it a “reverse sweep.”
I like “baton switch.” A natural image substitution. I’ve been handed the baton of bad goods many times.
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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