Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
A “laughing stock” is the butt of jokes. The stock here comes from “a block of wood, stump of a tree”. My fave is the laughing stork. Grave doubts about the laughing stook, but who knows.
Islam review
Why did this Allah make Muslims the laughing stork of the non-Muslims?
Election politics
This country is now being viewed as an embarassment. a “LAUGHING STARK OF THE UNIVERSE” we must correct this swiftly.
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=42849
this guy should be the laughing stook of the neighboring galaxy
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index … 735AADRmIC
they hurt your feelings and they make you the laughing talk of the school
Inside hoops
He turned Dallas the laughing talk of the NBA into one of the top teams.
See also stock >>stalk in the Database.
National security issues at Wired
No wonder why the US is the laughing stalk of the entire world!
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I like “laughing stork” the best too, but my imagery is too jumbled to make sense … maybe even backwards. It sort of conjures up the notion of certain types of birds that make sounds resembling laughter. So, it’s as if this bird—this laughing stork—embodies all the laughter that is to be directed at some person. But like I said, it would seem backwards to refer to the person as the laughing stork—except by way of some literary device.
“Laughing talk” is also intriguing, and I’m growing to like it more and more as I think about it. “Talk” is far more tangible than “stock”—so it really works in the right direction for an eggcorn—and doesn’t require us to conjure up a stork to attribute sense to indirectly.
It also makes me wonder whether “laughing stock” ever morphed to “laughing’s talk” ... Here’s one that’s intentional:
Britney Spears Photos & Pics | Britney Works Up A Sweat!
She’s the talk of the town all right! HAHAHAHAHAHA The laughing s’talk’!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA
x17online.com/celebrities/britney_spears/britney_works_up_a_sweat-04292008.php · Cached page
Last edited by jorkel (2010-02-16 23:14:05)
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I agree with you down the line. Laughing stork isn’t logical and doesn’t rate high as an eggcorn. Laughing talk fits, though.
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Even if it doesn’t make complete sense, “laughing stork” does seem to be pretty widespread. All those utterers must have something in mind! To me that apparent contradiction just makes it even more enjoyable as a reshaping.
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