Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
You are not logged in.
Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to
The forum administrator reserves the right to request users to plausibly demonstrate that they are real people with an interest in the topic of eggcorns. Otherwise they may be removed with no further justification. Likewise, accounts that have not been used for posting may be removed.
Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
Many farm animals both roost and root, but the original idiom mostly concerns chickens. Examples-
Chicken always come home to root , a famous Black Leader Malcom X once said when Kennedy was assassinated.
www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=1644&blog=all
...to express it in terms everyone understand- chickens come home to root.
www.springerlink.com/index/634R424439T75316.pdf
...creating as many made up jobs as possible – which is fine in the short term but sooner or later the pidgeons come home to root …
news.scotsman.com/.../Council-plans-to-take-tram.4615537.jp
The horrors of globalization will come home to root and we will all look back and wonder how we survived.
aine.newsvine.com/_…/2137459-top-25-censored-stories-for-2009
In the book, Perkins, who seems to have had Tony Benn’s previous jobs, is forced to watch a former bold decision come home to root, ...
www.guardian.co.uk/.../2006/apr/.../eno … yoneintoal
... banks were allowed to get away with lending practices which have now come home to root with horrific consequences for the Irish banking system.
www.dn.se/nyheter/chattar/chatt-om-irland-1.844862
Last edited by klakritz (2010-07-11 19:22:46)
Offline
I was about to add the “chickens come home to roast”, but apparently that one’s already in the database…
“Chickens come home to rest” is out there pretty often, but I think that’s a valid rephrasing of the original.
Last edited by fpberger (2010-07-13 15:14:58)
Offline
A new eggcornista has come home to rest! Congratulations, fpberger!
Offline
Ah… Very nice. But that probably means I’ve been spending too much time tracking down eggcorns and ought to go do some engineering.
Offline
fpberger wrote:
I was about to add the “chickens come home to roast”, but apparently that one’s already in the database…
There’s some interesting eggcornishness going on in the etymologies of the phrase “rule the roostâ€, which also sported the variant (or was sported by the variant) “rule the roastâ€. (E.g. see here .)
Last edited by DavidTuggy (2010-07-14 13:43:09)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
Offline