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Chris -- 2018-04-11

#1 2007-11-11 01:02:30

kem
Eggcornista
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 2851

oldfactory olfactory

People sometimes substitute “oldfactory” for “olfactory.” Here are a few web examples:

A new perfume from a Dubai company: “In September 2003, the launch of L’Instant de Guerlain shows once again that
Guerlain is the reference in terms of Perfume, with the creation of new oldfactory family: Crytalline Amber” (http://www.fbcdubai.com/pdf/Corporate.pdf)

Comment on a cigar: “I found a real oldfactory woody taste from the Partido and Vuelta Abajo and a pleasant slight hot pepper, mingled with notes of green capsicum and nutmeg.” (http://www.dongabriel.net/testimonials/)

A correspondent from Turkey writing about the recovery of a 12-year old boy: “But of course he still has some problems left such as LD and ADHD , hand flapping, visual , auditory and oldfactory problems, his immune system is so weak.”(http://www.autism.com/ari/rimland/tributes.htm)

Description of arthropods in biology profs online lecture notes: “well developed sensory organs, including eyes, oldfactory receptors, antennae to touch and smell; extensive cephalization” (http://www.langara.bc.ca/biology/mario/ … hap33.html)

Is it an eggcorn? Might be if the person making the substitution thought that unhappy olfactory experiences were the norm. Olfactory events do tend to be viewed in a negative light—notice how “smell” and “odor,” both neutral words for what the nose detects, have negative connotations. The smell of an old factory could serve as a paradigm case of olfaction. So the sense of smell could be reasonably be called the “oldfactory sense” by someone who didn’t know the word “olfactory.”


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

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#2 2007-11-11 07:52:56

jorkel
Eggcornista
Registered: 2006-08-08
Posts: 1456

Re: oldfactory olfactory

Good hunting kem. ( Just when we thought all the eggcorns were already collected up).

I think there are some situations where this might be an eggcorn and others where it is not. Earlier I posted about my misconception about “ampersand” being spelled as “amber-sand” which carried no real imagery for me. I think in some instances of “oldfactory” may be the same way.

But, I certainly think the “old factory” smell is the key element, so the perceived smell of an old factory would have to work into the imagery. The third example came pretty close with the inclusion of “woody taste” in the description. That is, the utterer previously heard “olfactory” and reused it in an incorrect sense—even literally with the sense of taste.

Overall, this one certainly has the potential to be a classic eggcorn since we’ve all probably thought “old factory” the first time we heard the word “olfactory”. Many of the examples given are almost there for me. Perhaps I’ll try to dig one up later which really solidifies it for me.

Last edited by jorkel (2007-11-11 08:05:28)

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#3 2014-07-25 04:45:10

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

Re: oldfactory olfactory

Given the close relationship between taste and smell, this variant shouldn’t be be too surprising:

I do not use soaps, a fish’s oralfactory senses are said to be 100 x greater than a dog. Depending on how much dirt and how much scent and …

Soon, our city will again be blessed with the visual, and oral factory, delight of lilac bushes in bloom.

It’s an oralfactory hallucenation. Happens to people with MS, depending on where lesions are. The smells are almost always a repungent smell …

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