Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2011-03-08
This confusion was mentioned in passing by DavidTuggy on a thread about co-instance/coincidence. You can see it here:
http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?id=3505
Here’s the instance I encountered: “I never really thought about this instance until much later…” (from Beefheart: Through the Eyes of Magic by John “Drumbo” French) It seemed pretty clear from the context that “incident” was what was really meant.
If it’s an eggcorn, I’m afraid it’s not a very exciting one, due to the abstractness of both words’ meanings not creating any interesting images or jokes, and to the very similar definitions of the two words. But I thought I’d share it just for the record, so to speak.
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It strikes me as a potential blend with elements of ‘instant’ and ‘incident’ and ‘incidence’.
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I see it as just a mistake. Over the past 5 to 10 years, I have often heard “instance”, “incidents” and “incedence” used interchangeably. Becuase of this common confusion, I have heard “incidences” for “incidents” a number of times. The meanings of “instance” and “incident” can be pretty close, so it’s not surprising that people get them confused.
Bruce
Last edited by yanogator (2011-07-07 18:38:17)
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