Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2011-03-08
A number of web writers seem to think that the idiom is “attention scan” instead of “attention span.” Examples:
Comment on a tourist attraction: “Children that age don’t have the attention scan for 2 hours of abstract looking.”
Response to question about a celebrity: “He knew he was safe making that claim, as the attention scan of his viewers has been estimated at 3.5 seconds,”
Post about a news article: “ We are a nation of adults with the attention scan of a gnat, and the “news media” reflects that reality.”
Web fiction: “ Renee had a quite short attention scan. ”
“Attention” and “scan” are attractors – to scan is to give attention to. Perhaps this attraction triggers the substitution.
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