Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
says it all really
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This might be a good place to introduce the concept of the snowclone...
Language Log: Snowclones: lexicographical dating to the second
Liberalism is the new communism (3/27/2005) Once a snowclone, always a snowclone (5/17/2005) ... What is this ‘snowclone’ of which you speak? (7/3/2005) ...
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/language … 00350.html
Basically, a snowclone is the template of a well-worn phrase with personalized word substitution. In the current situation, the template looks like this:
Do chickens X?
where the user fills in the X with their own personal choice to complete the question. I’m not sure if the original is “Do chickens lay eggs?” or if there is a broader template which captures familiar old queries like “Do fish have lips?” and “Is the Pope Catholic?” At any rate, the notion of the template allows many variations on a theme.
For more examples and a broader discussion of this topic, see the Language Log link above.
Last edited by jorkel (2006-09-29 16:35:13)
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This seems to be a bizarre cross between “Do chickens lay eggs?” and the old “teaching your grandma to suck eggs,” which, as I understand it, means presuming to teach something everyone already knows to someone older and wiser.
On the other hand, I’ve never heard anyone say “do chickens lay eggs?” which seems like a far weaker version of “Do bears shit in the woods?” And I’ve only seens “teaching your grandma to suck eggs” in oldish books.
It’s a mystery . . .
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Fishbait—your instincts are good. This is so bizarre that googling it only brings up the Eggcorns Forum.
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I, too, have never heard “Do chickens suck eggs?” I’m guessing it’s utterance is a singular phenomenon—a completely random variation that didn’t/wouldn’t/couldn’t catch on.
Here is a list of variations that I have heard at some point:
“Do fish have lips?” (ghits = 50)
“Do chickens have lips?” (ghits = 190)
“Do chickens lay eggs?” (ghits = 159)
I still maintain that the last item in this list is the prototype. It’s a sarcastic way of saying, “Emphatically, yes!” or “Obviously, yes!” I’m guessing the other variations were created to interject doubt or levity by asking a question that is less obvious to those uninformed about animal anatomy.
Examples of the alleged prototype:
www.myspace.com/jutzy Do you Shower Daily, Do chickens lay eggs? Have You Ever Been In Love, Yes. Do You Sing, Busker style man. Do You Want To Get Married, Why approach a broken …
profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=68448806 – 174k – Oct 10, 2006 – Cached – Similar pages
Is sex a priority in your relationship? – My Block Do chickens lay eggs? Riz is online now. Riz. View Public Profile … Originally Posted by Riz View Post. Do chickens lay eggs? ...
www.wordofsouth.com/myblock/showthread.php?t=35537 – 148k – Cached – Similar pages
Coollette Muck in tea baptised McEntee <jesson-is-a-lesson>MWAH HA HA oh!wat did de cowboy say 2 de horse???????????????????????? ??? wats wit de long face dude???!?!?!? do chickens lay eggs? i believe they do …
www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=411219167 – Similar pages
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