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Chris -- 2018-04-11
When idioms lose their transparency, they are, eggcornically speaking, meat to a dog. Not many speakers still connect “pipe dream,†a reference to an unobtainable goal, to its opium backstory. Without a history, it’s a short step from dreaming with pipes to dreaming of pies.
Computer software forum: “ Such a task sounds like a pie dream, however.â€
Comment on political blog: “ it is all a pie dream as any law like that will need to be passed by the house of lords.â€
Comment on music site: “Oh but all this is a pie dream and I just like adding to the arguements.â€
I’m thinking of “pie dream†as an eggcorn, but we could also approach it as an idiom blend: “pipe dream†melding with “pie in the sky.â€
Last edited by kem (2013-04-30 00:26:16)
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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I think we’ve seen pike / pipe confusion before. Not sure if the speakers have associated imagery—maybe the kind of daydream one has when driving?
“Come to think about it, this is just a pike dream on my part. “We the People” spoke loud and clear in the November 2010 elections about the direction we wanted to see the country move in, yet our voices continue to be ignored by Leviathan as it is still the same business as usual in DC. ” Libertarian pike dreams
” I believe most child support amounts are reasonable, and good percentage of those families rarely if ever receive it. We’re out here just barely surviving but we’re supposed to get all choked up about your “ability… to get ahead.” That’s just a pike dream in our world.” Child support rants
“Even in the bad old days maintaining 90.9 MPH was impossible! Heck even when MT had that R&P speed limit, drivers could not maintain that speed so this whole thread is just a pike dream!” Possible pun?
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