Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
You are not logged in.
Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to
The forum administrator reserves the right to request users to plausibly demonstrate that they are real people with an interest in the topic of eggcorns. Otherwise they may be removed with no further justification. Likewise, accounts that have not been used for posting may be removed.
Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
“Tadpool†for “tadpole†seems to be a frequent mistake. Three examples:
Youtube video: “ tadpools (label of video)â€
Building game site: “I got a present.It was a tadpool habitatâ€
Web fiction: “The being known to some as Narenek sat by a misty pond as the sun began to rise in the heavens. He was aware of everything in the pond, from the algae that fed the lower levels of insects, followed by the by the tadpools and water skimmers..â€
“Tadpole†is apparently “toad†+ “poll,†the latter used in the sense of rounded head, scalp. A tadpole does look a bit like a disembodied toad’s head.
“Tadpool,” I assume, recalls the fact that tadpoles are found in pools of water. But there may also be an infusion of the non-Teutonic “pool,” the one derived from French poule, which arose in betting circles in the late 1600s and ultimately gave rise to the name of the table game and words such as “carpool.” If so, “tadpool” would also recall that tadpoles are seldom found solitary—they are, as it were, pooled together in pools.
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
Offline
I wonder if somehow a tidepool got into the mix, although the pools Kem mentions, where tadpoles are to be found, are fresh-water pools. (Are there any salt-water amphibians?)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
Offline
Are there any salt-water amphibians?
A few. But the tadpoles are fresh-water: http://animals.pawnation.com/can-frogs- … 11011.html
“Tadpool” might be a good collective noun for the larval stage of an amphibian. We have a knot of toads, an army of frogs, a congress of salamanders, and a tadpool of tadpoles.
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
Offline
In the midwest, it isn’t unusual to hear it pronounced “tadpool”, so I see this as just a phonetic spelling of a bad pronunciation.
Bruce
“I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin
Offline