Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
You are not logged in.
Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to
The forum administrator reserves the right to request users to plausibly demonstrate that they are real people with an interest in the topic of eggcorns. Otherwise they may be removed with no further justification. Likewise, accounts that have not been used for posting may be removed.
Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
If someone is a shell of themselves, they are hollowed out like an empty seashell or shell casing.
If someone is a shelf of themselves, they are like an empty storage cabinet. Or perhaps like a single shelf when they should be a whole bookcase.
A few people replace “shell of Xself” with “shelf of Xself.” See examples from Google here and here and here and here.
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
Offline
A very nice find, Kem. Perhaps something of a fuzzy point too with hard/soft shells/sells/cells, as well as a host of self/shelf minglings. A shell of course may also be a refuge for the sensitive:
I’m just glad she’s starting to come out of her shelf and be comfortable with the person she is… she’s beautiful with or without makeup, ...
I find it hard to account for the sheer range of shelf for self substitutions unless there has been an outbreak of that unusual Sean Connery shpeech impediment, but here’s a few of the most absurd:
It’s strange, combines, shelf propelled silage harvesters, rakes , all get a good name, but tractors and maybe balers don’t …
I need 2/3 shelf-employed chainsaw operators in Plymouth for 2 to 3 weeks work beginning 25th Feb.
Fold in the shelf-raising flour until the mixture is smooth. Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour.
Offline
I had forgotten about the Sean Connery speech pattern. Jokes about it circulated on the internet a few years ago. Was this a personal speech impediment, or is it part of his Scottish dialect?
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
Offline
All his own I believe, unless he came from a remote community of slushing Scots which I know nothing about.
Offline