Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
I’ve looked around the website and forum, and I can’t seem to find this one. It’s my first time posting, so please correct me if I’m mistaken…
Today at a sporting contest for schoolchildren, I overhead one of them say “I’m really starting to get the hand of [doing something]” rather than “get the hang of it”.
A Google search reveals many, many hits:
“If you haven’t read manga before, though, it might be a little bit tricky to get the hand of reading it at first.”
“Sometimes it will take several clutches to get the hand of breeding and raising a brood.”
“Most people get the hand of maneuvering the boat within a few minutes.”
Some are typos, others seem to illustrate that people do think it’s the correct phrase: logical, when you consider phrases like “old hand [at something”. Maybe some people think it’s the correct phrase for physical things (like boating).
I’d be interested in any thoughts…
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Welcome, cutlunch.
I agree, you seem to have reported a rather obvious but overlooked eggcorn (an example of what we have come to call “low hanging fruit.”). The forum has discussed “hang/hand gliding” before (http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?id=3965), but not, it would appear, “get the hand of.”
“Get the hang of” has the sort of opacity that evokes eggcorns.
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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