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
In a Daily Kos diary today, www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/9/3/181922/9140, this phrase jumped out at me:
”...suggest that they ask more about Allen’s links with white supremacists, and if he’s willing to disallow those links once and for all. ”
Offline
The core of your quote “if he’s willing to disallow those links” sounds like it might be a malapropism since it conveys a (somewhat) ludicrous meaning when carefully interpreted. I’ll take a crack at explaining it below.
“Disavow” means “to deny responsibility for” or “refuse to acknowledge”
“Disallow” means “to deny the force, truth or validity of”
Let’s return to the quote…
â€...suggest that they ask more about Allen’s links with white supremacists, and if he’s willing to disallow those links once and for all. â€
What the poster INTENDS to say is “if he’s willing to DISAVOW those links.” I.e., that Allen might deny (responsibility for) links with such groups. This would make sense since Allen’s political advisors might reasonably expect Allen to distance himself from those controversial groups by saying NO LINK exists.
What the poster UNINTENTIONALLY said is “if he’s willing to DISALLOW those links.” What this suggests is that Allen might NOT deny that he has links with such groups, but he would simply deny that the link HAS ANY IMPACT or influence on him. (That would be like saying: Sure, I have lunch with Mussolini all the time but you shouldn’t worry about the advice he might be giving me). Again, Allen’s political advisors would probably not take this route since it might generate a political furor.
I think it takes a really dry sense of humor to appreciate the amusement in this subtlety. But that shouldn’t detract from it’s classification as a malapropism.
Offline