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Chris -- 2018-04-11
In a recent piece on Language Log Geoffrey Pullum calls attention to “judge mental†for “judgmental.†Nice eggcorn.
“Judge mental†is a tough eggcorn to find on the web because the word’s webspace is polluted by intentional puns. I’m finding a few, though (examples below). Some of web instances may be silicisms, specifically acombinations caused by faulty automatic word division when the (British?) spelling “judgemental” is intended.
The one example Pullum cites is from Yahoo! Answers, which, as we have noted, is often a poor source – words on Yahoo! Answers and other question/answer sites are often deliberately misused in order to draw comments and raise the ratings. In this case, though, the post looks genuine (as opposed to another Yahoo! Answers post with the same word.).
I’m puzzled a bit by Pullum’s line “with an eggcorn, the pronunciation is fine, it’s the spelling that outs you.†We have distinguished in the past between earcorns (different spelling, same pronunciation) and eyecorns (same spelling, different pronunciation or meaning), and that may be what he is referring to. But we have also catalogued a large number of eggcorns that have different spellings and similar but slightly different pronunciations.
Examples of “judge mental:”
Free essay: “Love at first sight is a saying people use on first opinions. Why must people be so harsh and mute to the fact that the world is judge mental ? â€
Comment on Dr. Phil site: “The world is judge mental because it’s differentâ€
Blog entry: “The lesson of this story is to not be judge mental. â€
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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I wonder how many of these we could collect.
Sterilized pets display fewer behavioral and temper mental problems than unsterilized pets.
Pet shelter
It’s overly sent-mental and far too many absurd co-incidences but I quite enjoyed it all the same.
Film review
Here’s a first person account where mentality is posited in the sacrament.
The word sacrament comes from two Latin stems: sacr meaning “sacred,†and ment meaning “mind.†It implies sacred thoughts of the mind. Even more compelling is the Latin word sacramentum, which literally means “oath or solemn obligation.†Partaking of the sacrament might therefore be thought of as a renewal by oath of the covenant previously made in the waters of baptism. It is a sacred mental moment
Religious folk etymology
That got me to wondering whether others read mental into other ment components – they’ve changed it to different morpheme, I think. For instance, is a figment hiding an eggcorn? Could simple thought be the theme of elementary education or deductions?
I currently am a student working towards becoming an elementalry education teacher.
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Last edited by burred (2012-02-24 19:37:08)
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And another, emphasising just the mental bit…
The sacrifices we make to keep us off the street and in the good graces of those who would be justmental of our socioeconomic status.
Just say a prayer for the brother and try not to be justmental, we know not his heart.
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