Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
My mother used to like to buy her ham from the ‘delicate essence counter’ at the supermarket.
She used to refer to a dark place as being ‘as black as Nookit’s knocker’. I think the original of this was probably ‘Newgate’s knocker’ and referred to going through the gate of the prison in London – but when I was young I gained the impression that Nookit was a large blackman who had a big knocker.
A narrow escape was ‘by a hare’s breath’
A deaf person was described as being either ‘as deaf as a beadle’ or ‘as deaf as a beetle’ but I never knew which was right. She used to like to ‘hedge her bets’ or ‘edge her bets’ and use both terms indiscriminately
Similarly, I have never been sure whether one does something ‘off one’s own back’ or off one’s own bat’, the latter being presumably a cricket reference.
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You’ve got some nice eggcorns there. Some may already have been discussed in the forum. (“Hare’s breath” seems to be familiar, if I’m not mistaken).
But, what I really like was “delicate essence” as an eggcorn of “delicatessen’s.”
I ran a Google search on it: 509 hits for “delicate essence”
Some were in reference to business/product names.
Other mentions were strictly literal usages to describe food and consumer products.
And as is often the case, I find one that may have been a subliminal usage inspired by delicatessen…
Shaws Sliced Cooked Meats – Butcher Shop Tradition, Deli Counter TasteThe delicate essence of quality and taste is plentiful in all of our sliced cooked meats which are perfect for all your families needs. ...
www.shawsfinefoods.com/items_shaws_slic … _taste.php – 18k – Cached – Similar pages
I just don’t know if it’s going to be possible to find an internet example of this eggcorn.
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