Eggcorn Forum

Another I thought we’d done but don’t find searching the sight.

Does it really exist because the Catholic teachings made me to understand there is Mortal Sin and Vanal Sin but if one dies without going for confession

How stupid you think you are if you judge people for something so vanal and silly as a haircut?

will they give it to her as a present? why waste such ammount of money in something so vanal and that is only a vanity thing.

[re animal cruelty] Using animals to improve our lives being even if it’s for something totally vanal, or on the other hand, even if it’s for something completely …

She is to spend most of her time meditating and mopping the floor and contemplating just being silent as much as possible, even not speaking at all. However, every meditating session is just a time when her mind just keeps going, thinking of words that don’t mean anything, thoughts that are so vanal and useless that break her concentration and she doesn’t see herself doing this much longer.

They did nothing evil or vanal for which we could criticize them.

(from 1715) [they] now regard neither probity nor any other virtue — all is selfish and vainal. But how can I complean of such hard usage, when my royal Master has met
with what is a thousand times more cruel.

All kinds of things are going on here, and there are plenty of eggcorning possibilities, but the picture is confusing. Venial (as opposed to mortal) sins are forgivable without confession (Latin venia meant “pardon, excuse” iirc), but they are so because they are relatively minor. Accordingly, they are somewhat banal (which many spelling-pronounce to rhyme with anal ) i.e. boring, commonplace, uninteresting: mortal sins are much more fascinating, aren’t they? Banal actions or words are also vain(al) , either in the sense of being “in vain” (i.e. pointless, achieving nothing) or of being connected with one’s vanity, high opinion of self. (Self-centered people are generally boring, are they not?) Then there’s venality , the quality of being easily bought, susceptible to bribery. A rather petty sort of sin, and revealing a quality of selfish self-centeredness. And what motivates us to sin (whether mortal, vanal, venal or otherwise) than our self-centeredness and vanity?

(Continuing along in this vain …)

By far the most common meaning for vainal (and occasionally vanal ) is “vaginal”. This may be an omission typo; more often it is probably influenced by Spanish, where vaina means “sheath, vagina”. (Spanish has a fairly systematic pronunciation typo . omitting intervocalic voiced consonants coming the common —as opposed to the erudite— route from Latin.) I am sure there are more examples of vainal with the sorts of meanings mentioned above, but they are swamped by the sexual usages, and I don’t have time to sort through them all right now, lest I fritter my day away in vanal pursuits.