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Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
Dint comes from OE and means a stroke or blow, hence the force of an attack or impact. It survives in the phrase by dint of, which means “by force of”. Its congeners are dent and indent. The unfamiliarity of dint has led to a panoply of variations. First, and perhaps most eggcornish because of its near homophony with dint, and because of the imagery of clattering activity, is “by din of”:
Family history:
For a time he continued in his trade, but as time went on by din of hard work and his more than common skill…
(http://books.google.ca/books?id=p_yYJIM … t&resnum=5)
Shipwreck account:
By din of great efforts she was got clear of a reef of rocks which jutted seaward.
(http://perdurabo10.tripod.com/ships/id282.html)
Speaker recommendation:
You might find the D27TG-35-06 suitable by din of its lower resonance frequency and flatter frequency response.
(http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/arch … 16100.html)
By dent of is a cousin of “by dint of”; these words come from the same root, though dent came to mean the physical effect of the use of force. Shakespeare used “by dent of sword” quite naturally.
History of world Christian movement:
A competent administrator, theologian, pastor, biblical exegete, and politicaal leader, Gregory did as much by dent of personality as by actual institutional power.
(http://books.google.ca/books?id=C2akvQf … &resnum=12)
I like the out-tray by didn’t of, despite the difficulty of seeing what the writer intends by it:
Comment on News blog:
He has risen to the present exalted position by didn’t of hard work and not any quota.
(http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news … /375056/3/)
Outdoors living blog:
Before the meeting was declared quorate by didn’t of the number of flies in attendance
(http://ditchmonkey.blogspot.com/2006/06 … forts.html)
Call center training:
sir/mam you are requested to make me aware about call centre at udaipur and about salary. I m fresher. i have had graduation. i m suffering a lot by didn’t of unemployment. You are requested to give answer as soon as.
(http://ask.shiksha.com/messageBoard/Msg … me/118/2/2)
Some from the malaprop end of the spectrum. By deign of = through the condescension of? By daint of ~ dainty? By deem of = by estimation or judgment of?
MacBeth synopsis:
With the rightful heirs gone, Macbeth assumes the throne as new King of Scotland by deign of his relation to the former King.
(http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Mac … id/1736684)
Against uniform UK-US spelling:
True, meals that were once a daily task of the housewife are now ready to consume within 30 minutes either by daint of the microwave or the fast food outlet.
(http://www.helium.com/items/588731-brin … oices-past)
Racism response:
please feel free to make me a second class humanbeing by daint of my sexuality
(http://freedom-bound.blogspot.com/2007/ … s-own.html)
Leadership Awards:
He was thrust into the leadership limelight by deem of his achievements, his iconic status, his remarkable story and the media attention.
(http://www.freshbusinessthinking.com/ar … 0&AID=2404)
Magic for magicians:
Whether by deem of character, by means of psychological or theatrical ploy, something must be done to add a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine of magic go down.
(http://jamyianswiss.com/fm/works/whymagicsucks.html)
Mumsnet custody talk:
I’d love to know on what basis the solicitor said that – well children have TWO parents, and I’m sure that nowadays dad’s are much more involved and want to play a role in children’s lives, so if this was the child’s experience pre-separation, why is it suddenly the mother deemed to be the ‘best’ parent by deem of her biology and nothing else.
(http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/stepparenti … presenting)
By tint of, in the one instance found, evokes the image of a stained blot on a DNA gel:
Evolution vs. religion:
By tint of evolutionary forensics, complex statistical analyses of DNA sequences, the researchers revealed that the ancestors of human and chimpanzees exchanged genes
(http://www.pakistanlink.com/Commentary/ … /16/02.HTM)
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What fun!
the human intellect is kept faithful in its allegiance to truth only by ding of perpetual reconquest.
Then by ding of persuasion and’ by swearing secrecy 1 managed to induce him to reveal the whole thing to me.
Only the two cases seem likely to be real examples of this variant.
by reason of shelter or by dang of necessity.
This was the only apparent case of this variant that googled out, and it’s one of those sites that seem to string words and phrases together meaninglessly. [Hit traps, or what are they for?]
Last edited by DavidTuggy (2009-06-17 22:17:00)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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By ding of reconquest! Sounds as easy as ringing the doorbell!
Here’s another, which turns “by dint of” on its head, or works by understatement, or is just ironical:
Tourism site blurb:
For the next century and a half, the colony remained a forgotten backwater, isolated from the coast and major trading routes. It survived only by hint of hard work and the generosity and friendliness which have become the hallmarks of the contemporary Costa Rican character.
(http://www.therioindiolodge.com/about_costa_rica.html)
You’re making me feel guilty, justifiably, about my long-ago promised post about those click traps, fool sweeps, and other digital tarbabies, that I’ve never gotten around to posting, but will … some day. Since now I’ve got a mild case of swine, or manflu, maybe I’ll get some free time if I become hypercontagious and have to stay home eggcorn hunting.
Meanwhile, “by didn’t of” reminds me of an orphan legomenonce that i’m going to slip in here: don’ting for daunting:
Enabling Tamil keyboard support:
Developing and setting keyboard layout specially for language like Tamil which has more than 250 characters on a keyboard which is originally designed to accommodate mere 26 characters(English) again going to be a don’ting task.
(http://hamzeen.wordpress.com/category/srilanka/)
Unfortunately, don’tless and undon’ted are legomenopes. There are many unexplained don-tless es — maybe they just couldn’t bring themselves to insert the apostrophe?
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