Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
My housemate just said it tonight, and my eggcorn radar was on.
Does it count, when arch and arc are so semantically close? I mean it isn’t necessarily a more colorful word choice….
600 some hits on Google as well, which I assume aren’t just typos.
~ ilse
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ilselieve: let’s consider an example…
Uncle Figgy, Game Consultant
I start out with my world and a very basic overarcing plot/idea and then just start running minor, small-story adventures that may or may not be linked. ...
http://www.dragondogpress.com/unclefiggy/read11.htm
I think your initial instinct about “arch” and “arc” deriving from the same root (“arcus” in Latin) may pose a stumbling block for the analysis. It initially raises the question that if an “arch” is shaped like an “arc”, then what other meaning for arc could be intended? (I faced a similar difficulty when comparing “quarrelous” to “querelous”).
On the other hand, only “arch” conveys an architectural structure (and the associated support, connectiveness, or overhead protection it provides). By contrast, “arc” simply conveys the shape. In the above example, it’s as if the “arc” provides a (curved?) backdrop for the story. Is this meaning all that different from an arch? It seems to be a very gray distinction that I can’t resolve satisfactorily. Maybe someone else can pick up where I might have erred.
Last edited by jorkel (2006-09-11 22:00:44)
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