Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
I picked up a friend of mine at the ferry landing today. On the way home he referred to doing something “on the sperm of the moment.†I think (but I don’t know for sure) that this was a throwaway pun. He’s that sort of fellow.
But it started me thinking. Is this phrase a pun for everyone? If uttered inadvertently, “sperm of the moment†has the earmarks of an eggcorn. “Spur†is not a common word. “Sperm†is a logical semantic replacement, since “spur†can be thought of as something ephemeral and spermatozoa are iconically transient, short-lived.
Wading through web hits for “sperm of the moment†leads to a lot of obvious puns. The phrase was a classic Archie Bunker line, for example, and was more recently reprised on the Will and Grace TV show. But I think I see some evidence that a small community of speakers finds it normative and nonpunning. Is this, like “old-timer’s disease and “blessings in the skies,†a rotten eggcorn that has made its way from caper to customary?
Examples of possible inadvertent uses of “sperm of the moment:â€
Tagline for Youtube video: “-sUPERED has not played his girtar in over 2 years this is cold turkey—sperm of the moment playing—a classic sUPERED momentâ€
Writers’ forum: “ I signed up. I don’t know why—it was a sperm of the moment idea—but I figured, hey, why not?â€
Canadian blog: “i recently placed a large-ish completely sperm-of-the-moment order at amazon and was horrified to discover that a small but important portion of it was sent to my old address.â€
Web log of a rock band: “And we would like to thank everyone for showing up, we got a lot of people out there today for a completely sperm of the moment show.â€
Our database, by the way, records the eggcorn spurt of the moment.
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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This seems a reasonable place to park this since it provides a wider context and I like to try to round up strays and return them to the nearest herd. Yeehaw!
Should my flanks be suddenly pricked by spinning rowels I imagine I too would be instantly stirred from my slumbers or preoccupations. ‘Stirred into action’ is a perfectly reasonable expression in its own right but ‘stir of the moment’ seems quite eggcornish to my ear.
I used it for a stir of the moment date with Percy to feed the ducks, and dinners with my kids.
... player durge only that its less obvious and more of a stir of the moment thing, not really planned like gale.
The photos Brian reenacts are mostly stir-of-the-moment takes of him + cool location + friends.
I wish they would have chosen a better transfer but I think they switched it stir of the moment because of the reaction.
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The phrases that give rise to most eggcorns are pressed into service. “Spur of the moment,” it seems, sends out invitations.
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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