Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2025-05-10
In the official transcript of the testimony of the victim of the Roman Polanski sexual assault case, back in 1977, she is quoted as saying:
“”Then he went down and he started performing cuddliness.”( http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/ye … ski29.html )
In the context, it is clear that the intended word was `cunnilingus’, and the girl explains her meaning very clearly when asked to clarify. Here’s that exchange:Q: What does that mean?
A: It means he went down on me or he placed his mouth on my vagina.
I’m almost certain that the eggcorn in this case came from the person who transcribed the testimony, not from the victim herself. She almost certainly used the word `cunnilingus’, and the fact that it was recorded as `cuddliness’ reflects the naivete or limited vocabulary of the person who transcribed the testimony.
David Kosofsky
New Orleans
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It’s certainly a curious and quite charming substitution but the example from the Polanski case is the only usage I can find on Google, which suggests I’m afraid that its eggcornicity is dubious at best.
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