Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
Looks to be an eggcorn squash of clinch, as in the clincher, and linchpin. You can see why “linchpin/lynchpin” might be shied away from in the first hit:
The loss of William Jefferson’s congressional seat in 2008 was the clinchpin in the loss of black political power in the racist politics of post-Katrina New Orleans.
Race and politics
The salt tolerant insects, that feed on kelp and fungus in huge numbers may be, I believe, the cinch pin for terrestrial life in the marsh.
Entomologist’s blog
It is the cinch-pin of the terrorist, create as much suffering and fear as you can with least cost to the cause.
Blog comment
I think that technological tools are the cinchpin of differentiated instruction
Teacher’s blog comment
A linchpin is a pin through the axle to hold the wheel on a cart. It passed through a stage as a lins-pin, which means “axle-pin”, but was corrupted to “linch” through a fancied association with link, acc. to Skeat (1882). Clinch and cinch are better descriptors than link of what it does.
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