Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2025-05-10
In an email to a colleague, thanking this person for always being ‘on point’ in meetings—i.e., we can rely on her to be present and be a source of information and deliver it concisely to the group. My former-dancer-self wondered if this could be eggcorned with “en pointe” which, to me, connotes being on being called on to perform with accuracy (e.g., dancing on your toes).
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Interesting question. There is a Wikipedia page that considers some of the different uses for on point and tries to separate them, here. Most seem metaphorically interchangeable. One could look for examples where en pointe is used to imply on topic.
Staying on point means more to me than staying on topic, however. I can’t isolate it from military and sports contexts. In itself, use of on point in business meetings is already eggcornically or at least metaphorically contaminated.
Last edited by burred (2016-05-27 10:14:51)
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How interesting! Can’t say I’ve ever heard it used in either the military or sports contexts…though I don’t really get around much in those circles! I hear it mostly at work—perhaps from my peer “American youths”! Thanks for the link!
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