Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
I suppose many of you have read about the kerfuffle surrounding the Scots Wikipedia pages. A non-Scots speaker, by creating thousands of pages of pidgin-Scots entries, has inadvertently become a major force in the evolution of the Scots dialect.
I couldn’t help but notice some parallels to the creation of eggcorns. A speaker with a faulty command of some part of standard English creates replacement expressions and becomes a super-spreader, influencing other speakers hearing these expressions for the first time. Little Archie Bunkers (“the face that launched a thousand slips”).
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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Kem, I knew nothing of the Scots Wikipedia controversy and I’m grateful you brought it to my attention – an extra chuckle is always welcome – but I don’t share your apprehension (assuming you were serious) regarding the future of that Lowland tongue. Genuine broad Scots speakers could hardly be affected by this nonsense as, even in the unlikely event of any of them consulting Wikipedia for guidance on how to talk, they’d instantly spot the fakery. The poor lass responsible meant well and couldn’t be more apologetic.
No disagreement with your second paragraph of course, but I had to look up Archie Bunker. He appears to have been a US-sanitised version of the UK’s Alf Garnett and although I don’t recall Alf being particularly malapropic, it would be no surprise if he were.
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As you say, it is unlikely that any Scots speaker would be confused. The problem, I suppose, is all of the people who don’t speak Scots and depend on what they find on Wikipedia to determine what a Scot speaker would say.
I had to look up Alf Garnett, so we’re even. I’ll take your word that he speaks English—I think I recognize the occasional English-like word in his speech.
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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