Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
You are not logged in.
Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to
The forum administrator reserves the right to request users to plausibly demonstrate that they are real people with an interest in the topic of eggcorns. Otherwise they may be removed with no further justification. Likewise, accounts that have not been used for posting may be removed.
Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
My university, like many others, is undergoing severe budget cuts
because of reduced state funding.
But we are not supposed to talk about “cuts” and “firing” people,
the approved terms are “rescission” and “reorganization”.
Today I received an email from the College accountant asking
for details of my department’s planned “recession cuts”.
Is this an eggcorn for “rescission” (rescission cut would be redundant …)
Offline
CLS, sounds like grim days at your university, I’m sorry to hear that. On top of it all you must put up with euphemism and doublespeak. I don’t know if I would call “recession cuts” an eggcorn – it’s more like a refreshing bit of honesty about the gravity of the economic situation. If the speaker was in fact aiming for “rescission”, however, then “recession cuts” might indeed be an eggcorn, and a good one, though bitter!
Rescission has a clear definition that doesn’t fit in the case of academic firings. It means to rescind a contract entirely and retroactively due to the fault of one of the parties to the contract, which I doubt could be argued here. So they haven’t found an appropriate term for what they’re up to, though that may not stop its use if the administration feels it salves their conscience.
Offline