Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
The names “fennel†and “fenugreek†both hark back to the Latin word for “hay,†but that is about the only connection between the spice plants bearing these two labels. Fennel1 is sweet, having the licorice aroma of anise. It is a perennial in the carrot family. Fenugreek is a bitter seed from a pea family plant and is often used in Indian curries.
The web contains many hundreds of examples of “fennelgreek†for “fenugreek.†Given the difference between the two spices, I take this to be DNA eggcorn: “fennel†is shoehorned into “fenugreek†for no better reason than that they are both terms for spices.
——-Last edited by kem (2013-12-26 12:19:49)
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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