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#1 2016-09-06 00:53:07

Dixon Wragg
Eggcornista
From: Cotati, California
Registered: 2008-07-04
Posts: 1375

"aw" for "awe"

Oddly, this one seems not to have been discussed here yet. There are lots of these online:

People are more fearful and in aw of superman just like Dr. Manhattan.
nerd talk

In aw of all the positive words and message we’ve received in welcoming Crow to our family.
tweet

Wow, I am literally in Aw of all the amazing tattoos I have just seen on here!
FB post

They stare in aw of the unique beauty
photo caption

lucy hale. i sit in aw of her fabulous style every-time i watch pretty little liars!
another photo caption

Sure, some of them could be typos or misspellings, but I think it’s an eggcorn for a lot of folks, as it’s easy to imagine people saying “Aw!” (or “Awwwww”!”) when they’re in awe.

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#2 2016-09-06 16:54:40

kem
Eggcornista
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 2851

Re: "aw" for "awe"

We’ve done “in aah of” http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?id=1352 “Aw” seems like it might be an alternate spelling of “aah.”


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

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#3 2016-09-29 16:53:05

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2713
Website

Re: "aw" for "awe"

Posts #70-71 here are relevant.

Last edited by DavidTuggy (2016-09-29 16:55:35)


*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

(Possible Corollary: it is, and we are .)

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#4 2016-10-01 16:23:20

Dixon Wragg
Eggcornista
From: Cotati, California
Registered: 2008-07-04
Posts: 1375

Re: "aw" for "awe"

kem wrote:

We’ve done “in aah of” http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?id=1352 “Aw” seems like it might be an alternate spelling of “aah.”

Perhaps in some cases, but “aw” is pronounced differently than “aah”, and usually has a different meaning. The American Heritage Dictionary defines “aw” as “Used to express sympathy, tenderness, disapproval, or disbelief.”, while it defines “aah” as “Used to express pleasure, satisfaction, surprise, or great joy”, so they are different words.

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#5 2016-10-03 14:04:29

CatherineR
Eggcornista
Registered: 2006-08-09
Posts: 61

Re: "aw" for "awe"

I’ve seen “awe” on cute pics of puppies and kittens on the Internet. Maybe people think they’re interchangeable, like flammable and inflammable.

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#6 2016-10-19 12:08:50

kem
Eggcornista
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 2851

Re: "aw" for "awe"

“aw” is pronounced differently than “aah”

Dictionaries lag a bit on this usage. The Web contains many, many examples of people writing the exclamation of cuteness as “aah.”

“Aw” was at one time (first half of the twentieth century) an expression of disgust, the very opposite of the cute “awww.” About the only remnant of this earlier meaning in current English is what is left the phrase “Aw! Shucks.”


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

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