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#1 2011-01-20 08:20:46

jorkel
Eggcornista
Registered: 2006-08-08
Posts: 1456

Give the cold SHOWER (shoulder)

As far as imagery goes, a cold shower is a bit more familiar than a cold shoulder (when taken literally). Seems that this might be a hypercorrection, but an eggcorn nonetheless? At any rate, even “cold shower” isn’t taken literally below; it’s still just a metaphor for remaining distant / being slightly cruel by ignoring.

Examples

Hazel Daniella M. (NotUrNormalDoll) on Twitter#confessionhour when I’m digging a guy I give him the cold shower cuz I’m the over zealous type and don’t wanna scare em about 1 hour ago via ÃœberTwitter …
twitter.com/NotUrNormalDoll – Cached

This next one has a UK source … Is “cold shower” the standard usage there?

Can you tell me what feelings a guy must if he suddenly says that …In fact i gave him the cold shower couple of times. He said we are soulmates in front of his GF and i replied in a joking way: “yeah, made for each other …
www.seducemen.co.uk/.../can-you-tell-me … ust-if-he- suddenly-says-that-she-is-his-soulmate.html?... – Cached

Should have done this – Rennlist Discussion Forums4 posts – 4 authors
A cup would have been cheaper but it’s the trailer situation that gave me the cold shower. Nice rig BTW. FFaust is online now …
forums.rennlist.com/.../997…/609094-should-have-done-this.html – Cached

Lyrics (below) may not count…

Evripidis and His Tragedies Ruru I’d Love To Lyricsnext minute you give me the cold shower. I can never make you stay nothing but a heartache every day! Ru Ru I’d love to…but you never seem to care …
www.lyricsvip.com/Evripidis-and…/Ruru … yrics.html – Cached

Finally got the 3DMark 2001 not to lockup with the buggy EP 8KHA+ ...6 posts – 3 authors – Last post: Aug 21, 2002
Yeah MuFu – you gave me the cold shower in that thread :D … I downloaded all the bioses on the Epox page but haven’t been around to …
discussions.hardwarecentral.com/archive/index.php/t-133632.html – Cached

Last edited by jorkel (2011-01-20 08:23:36)

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#2 2011-01-20 10:33:35

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2713
Website

Re: Give the cold SHOWER (shoulder)

Hypercorrection? How so? (Not doubting that you may be right, but I don’t see it.

“Taking a cold shower” is an established (clichéd) way to dampen sexual ardor. This likely arises (likely repeatedly and independently?) from a blend, then. The contexts of a couple of the usages above seem to fit this idea.

“Giving (/turning) the cold shoulder” has itself been eggcornified by etymologists who thought that, rather than meaning “rejecting a person by turning in an emotionally cold manner to present the back of your shoulder to him” it meant “giving a person leftovers (a cold shoulder of mutton), i.e. giving him a less-than-warm welcome.” This debunks that “folk etymology”. I wonder how widespread it ever was: I certainly was surprised when I first heard it. Interesting that the first citation (Sir Walter Scott) has cauld shouder , where shouder would sound as much like shower as shoulder to most of us.


*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

(Possible Corollary: it is, and we are .)

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#3 2011-01-20 13:15:33

kem
Eggcornista
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 2851

Re: Give the cold SHOWER (shoulder)

I agree with David T. Looks to me like the residue of a blend.


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

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#4 2011-01-20 16:28:44

David Bird
Eggcornista
From: The Hammer, Ontario
Registered: 2009-07-28
Posts: 1690

Re: Give the cold SHOWER (shoulder)

What would you make of the cold soldier treatment? Being stiff and formal? Or just a metathetical confusion.

Song interpretation i think it’s pretty simple…this girl is giving him the cold soldier and he wants to call her…

HuffPost comment I can understand why he got the cold soldier. I am very disappointed in Sen. Obama also.

Movie synopsis Edward gives her the cold soldier in a weird way, then suddenly disappears for a few days.

Forum comment
when I try to provide the answer what happened to us, staffers give me the cold soldier.

See also shoulder on

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#5 2011-01-20 18:19:17

jorkel
Eggcornista
Registered: 2006-08-08
Posts: 1456

Re: Give the cold SHOWER (shoulder)

Thanks for the points I overlooked David T. The blend you mention works in a few of the examples, but less perfectly in the others.

By hypercorrection I mean that someone hears “cold shoulder” correctly but rejects it in favor of the more familiar “cold shower.”

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