Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
Took me forever to realize that some guy talking about a dilute salt water solution was saying “saline” and not “sailing”. I figured he was referring to salt water as something used for sailing on. Ha!
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Welcome, joejoe.
I think “sailing” for “saline” is a real eggcorn—and one that is new to this site! Some may feel that the meaning-connection is lacking, but I think it’s plausible that some perps may assume that “sailing” solution is used to alleviate dryness caused by things like the sun and wind experienced by sailors. Here are a few examples I found online (mixed in with the far more numerous puns):
You may feel like you need to use eyedropper sailing solution/artificial tears to get rid of the dry eyes feeling.
discussion of dehydration
You may have a fairly rare condition in which wax builds up in your auditory canal. You should go to the doctor and have it drained with sailing solution.
Q&A site
My doctor put splints in and said i could take them out myself on day 2. I just tried and even put some sailing solution up my nose but they seem pretty stuck and its hurts and just not sure how much I should pull.
account of a nose job
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