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
In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute, especially one that enters a fraught situation. The substitution is natural, since all hitters in baseball hit pitches. About 400 ghits:
Runner on second with two out and pitch-hitter Miguel Ojeda due up. ... Runner on first with one out and pitch-hitter Jerry Hairston due up.
www.cbc.ca/sports/stats/mlb/update/14870
“They’re sending in a pitch hitter,” said one Democratic source close to Clinton’s campaign. Other Clinton aides were a shade more guarded.
slate.msn.com/id/1005324/
Takeshi Miyazawa, of Marvel’s Mary Jane series, is sort of the designated pitch
hitter for the series, and his work is always impressive as well, ...
www.thefourthrail.com/features/1105/recommended3.shtml
Pitch hitter Rachel Greyson got hit by a 0-1 offering by Smith to lead off the
top of the Maryland eighth.
umterps.collegesports.com/ sports/w-softbl/recaps/051305aab.html
Finley had a two-run double in the eighth, which ended with pitch-hitter Jeff
DaVanon being called out at first …
sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=250411113
IWF is your pitch hitter in fighting for state laws that maximize every individual’s opportunity to achieve educational, economic and personal success.
www.wisconsinsfuture.org/donate.htm
If he catches 30 games and is used some more as a pitch hitter, he’s an outstanding asset to the team. www.snivelingaardvark.com/ phillies/archives/2004_02.html
Offline
Recently, while researching a different eggcorn, I ran across this:
With the King-size snicker-bar in hand, I crotch down in a Catcher’s postion and released the candy bar between my leg, like I pitched a loaf.
discussion thread
“Pinch a loaf” is an amusingly graphic metaphor for defecating. There are a number of examples of “pitch a loaf” to be found, such as:
Looks like he’s ready to pitch a loaf with those facial expressions.
discussion about video of a guitar player
i wonder if you’re going to have to pay to pitch a loaf on this baby.
discussion about ‘Australia’s highest toilet’
“Pitch a loaf”, with its imagery of forcibly projecting something, is, I think, an eggcorn.
Offline
When a fraught situation is faced in baseball, the manager is likely to be looking to replace the pitcher as well. Pitchers are not generally known for their pitching ability, so the pinch hitter may well be a substitute for an outgoing pitcher.
From Wikipedia: ”...pitchers are almost never used as pinch-hitters, because they tend to be worse hitters than other players on the team. [...].The American League of Major League Baseball, the Pacific League in Japan, and various other leagues use the designated hitter rule, such that pitchers seldom bat.” (Designated hitters take the place of the pitcher in the batting lineup through the entire game.)
“In the National League of Major League Baseball, the Central League in Japan, and various other minor leagues, pinch hitters are often substituted for the pitcher in the middle or late innings of a game (emphasis mine). This is because pitchers are often poor hitters and get tired after six to seven innings of pitching. Besides, when the manager already plans to replace the pitcher in the next inning, the major downside of using a pinch hitter, namely that the player being replaced cannot re-enter the game is taken away.
This use of a pinch hitter is often part of a double switch, in which a relief pitcher replaces a defensive player who will not bat soon, and at the same time a defensive player replaces the pitcher who is scheduled to bat soon.”
The substitution of “pitch” for “pinch” makes sense to me.
As far as pinching or pitching a loaf, I’d rather pitch mine than have to pinch it. Eeeww! I would have thought it the other way around, but a fast skim of the Internet seems to indicate that many people think pinch came before pitch. One person quotes a slang dictionary as stating the phrase originated around 1994, and goes on to write that, as American English speaker, the phrase is totally unfamiliar. I’m an American English speaker and have been hearing the phrase since well before 1994, although as pitch.
I wonder if the phrase has ever been used in the sense of sales talk. I had a man named Amanaleve (it sounded so much like a Bart Simpson joke I had him spell it for me) phone yesterday and I’d like to regard him as pitching a loaf concerning Pure Green Garincinia (sic – again I had him spell it for me). How hard can it be to spell the product you’re pitching?
Last edited by Eoin (2015-02-05 14:09:05)
Offline
Eoin wrote:
As far as pinching or pitching a loaf, I’d rather pitch mine than have to pinch it. Eeeww…
No, no, Eoin, it’s not about pinching it with one’s fingers; it’s about the fact that each “loaf” is pinched off by one’s anus as it exits. I’m reminded of the classic joke: Q: Why are turds pointed on the end? A: So your asshole doesn’t slam shut.
I would have thought it the other way around, but a fast skim of the Internet seems to indicate that many people think pinch came before pitch. One person quotes a slang dictionary as stating the phrase originated around 1994, and goes on to write that, as American English speaker, the phrase is totally unfamiliar. I’m an American English speaker and have been hearing the phrase since well before 1994, although as pitch.
I too am pretty sure I heard it years before ‘94, but as “pinch…”, not “pitch…”. It makes sense to me that “pinch a loaf” would be the original and “pitch…” the misheard variation, as it’s a much cleverer image.
Offline