Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2011-03-08
I saw this on my boss’s whiteboard this morning – we’re both EFL teachers. Whether the bull or the toreador would be wearing the skates I can only guess. But there are a couple more examples out there in cyberspace.
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For me rink already came from ring , so I doubted this one. (Not that it was an error and one worth noting, but that it brought any serious restructuring with it.) However I find outːthat rink is from theː
late 14c., Scottish dialect, probably from O.Fr. renc, reng “row, line,” from Frankish and ultimately connected with ring (n.). Probably confused in meaning with ring (n.) in sense of “area marked out for a sporting contest.” Ice hockey sense first attested 1896. (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=rink)
Sounds like the restructuring happened somewhere in the past, going from ring to row and back to ring.
Welcome to the forum, Alanǃ
Last edited by DavidTuggy (2011-01-03 13:53:03)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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