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#1 2012-01-07 01:17:25

Peter Forster
Eggcornista
From: UK
Registered: 2006-09-06
Posts: 1222

'willow' for 'winnow'

You should try to winnow your faves down to the 10 best, or 20 if you really cannot decide

Winnowing grain from chaff by hand is an unfamiliar activity to most of us, though the merciless drudgery of threshing and winnowing would be commonplace to our recent ancestors. Winnowing then is perhaps a less familiar word than willowing, which sometimes replaces it. Winnowing reduces initial bulk, and aided by the notion of willowy – slim and graceful – ‘willowing’ could conceivably be read as a way to make thinner or render more slender. In any case, the willow has a real connection to winnowing as the withies of willow were often used to make winnowing fans, and baskets for the grain. The characteristic habit of the tree itself, hanging down or weeping, is likely to be playing a large part too.

I typed a 7 page review day by day on my laptop which is a bit too much to post here, so I will willow it down and then post a review. ...

After 150000 submissions were willowed down to 16, and then voted on, the five finalist were recently announced.

This is a single drop into a glass bowl, lit from underneath with a flash. I took around 100 shots that I willowed down to this one.

HI I have about $ 20000 in credit card debt that I have been conscientiously willowing down for a bit now.

Last edited by Peter Forster (2012-01-07 04:40:05)

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#2 2012-01-07 10:02:26

kem
Eggcornista
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 2850

Re: 'willow' for 'winnow'

I wonder if some of these “winnow downs” might be substitutions for “whittle down.”


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

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#3 2012-01-07 12:20:47

Peter Forster
Eggcornista
From: UK
Registered: 2006-09-06
Posts: 1222

Re: 'willow' for 'winnow'

Now why didn’t I think of that? There is a forum entry or two for “widdle/whittle away at” (but I can’t get the link to work) and the willow downers might be anxious to avoid widdling down and all that might mean.

Sorry for the Delay, but 1000 images per day is hard to widdle down.

In other words, they are widdling down the field and it isn’t their right to do that

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#4 2012-01-07 12:52:35

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

Re: 'willow' for 'winnow'

Return passage up the Withywindle in a widdle withied windle is supplied in “winnowy figure”. The example suggests there’s a strong blend of sinewy in there.

Online fic He looked at her then, in the doorway, the afternoon sunlight framing her—her sinewy arms and winnowy figure, her hair escaping at her temples and her mind, he could tell, racing desperately through the possibilities of what to do, where to go, and why, why, why

With withies escaping at her temples and her mind, oh.

By exploration of the metathetical space of willows and whittlings, I happened upon this natural reimaging: to little things down.

Fashion blog I decided to blog my very favourite pieces from their collection, as you do. It was a tough job, but in the end I managed to little it down to 5 each of the following categories

Getting a record deal To get a record deal i can little it down to 5 key things.

Online psychic readings Sometimes when we have job worries, our relationships suffer as well due to the stress and worries about future money come up. If this is the case, perhaps try to little it down to one specific question therefore it won’t seem so overwhelming at first.

Drag race results After a day and half of elimination, the field was littled down to 10 cars.

Here are the basketwoven lats: widdle away, widdle away at, wheedle and weasel away at, whitter away and wriggle/wiggle.

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#5 2013-01-02 09:05:52

burred
Eggcornista
From: Montreal
Registered: 2008-03-17
Posts: 1112

Re: 'willow' for 'winnow'

She wanted to run his name a bit further even – to get the licence number from the front desk – and continue to widow it down, maybe track down an address or a phone number and check in on him.
fanfic

The defense and the prosecution ask a few basic questions and then the[y] get to widow it down 1 by 1 to 12 + a few alternates depending on the size of the trial.
Jury selection

A blend of narrow and whittle and winnow, maybe.

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#6 2013-01-02 10:21:11

kem
Eggcornista
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 2850

Re: 'willow' for 'winnow'

Widow down for whittle down. A classic eggcorn to kick off the 2013 season.


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

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