Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
Ken Lakritz had, long ago (#679) , recorded thread for tread , “particularly in ‘thread lightly’ for ‘tread lightly.’ About 1,000 ghits vs 400,000 for the original. In using ‘thread’ to mean ‘walk’ or ‘navigate’ through a hostile or delicate environments, writers are perhaps influenced by the concept of threading a maze.â€
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I just ran across this variant, where the notion of taking care reinforces the idea. (Blending with thread your way is doubtless involved along with the eggcorning.):
To get to the school grounds we had to thread carefully through a rice paddy, carefully because we didn’t want to ruin the crop and because we didn’t want to get our shoes wet.
She would have to thread very carefully where he was concerned, but it would not matter in the end because she would eventually get her own way.
Thread carefully along the path, for your footsteps follow those who have tried…and failed.
Interestingly, the following was from a cycling-related post: you don’t tread when riding a bike, and in fact must thread instead:
Thread carefully along the Eastbourne sea front, following Royal Parade, Marine Parade and Grand Parade, passing many typical seaside …
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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