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#1 2017-01-26 22:33:17

worksanddays
Member
Registered: 2017-01-26
Posts: 3

This blog is a cornucopia of eggcorns!

I found this blog reading the entry for “youthamism.” It was linked because the blogger had used that word to mean aphorism or saying. I was intrigued to explore the mind of someone who would use such a strange (to me) construction. It seems to be a blog written for an English class assignment. I’ve read about 10 entries, and almost every one has one or two additional eggcorns! I’m documenting them all here. Reading all these entries was quite a journey… along with many many eggcorns, he can’t write a single sentence without at least one grammatical error, mismatched verb tense/number, homonym mixup, misuse of the word “whom,” or misplaced comma. Additionally, he’s quite prolific with mixed metaphors and overused cliches—most of which mean something slightly different from what he means by them. He seems to think he is incredibly witty and funny, when really his writing would have been stiflingly boring if I weren’t so entertained by his language crimes.

He thinks he is a very good writer. He mentions it many many times, highlighting both the quality of his writing and his storytelling abilities: “I do not think I have ever been told that I am not at least a decent writer. I am proud of the body of writing that I have put out in this English class. I go by the old adage that if you are going to write give them something to read. Not just dribble but real page turning material. I would like to think that ninety percent of the time my papers have the effect on people that they can not put it down, that the reader want to read what I have written, and that at the end they do feel that they have been engaged by my work.”

This has to be a prime example of the Dunning-Krueger Effect.

Without further ado, here are the eggcorns and almost-eggcorns that I found in his writing:

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … th-of.html
“wrecked havoc” – wrecked for wreaked
“I do feel that it is need” (need instead of needed)—not sure if that counts.
“should be required to take what I conceder refresher courses”—he meant “what I concede are”
“I can not remember the one that I singed up for”—singed for signed—he does this at least 5 times
“and not every well rounded.”—every for very
“I do want to be here even if my attendance does not exactly concur.”—not exactly an eggcorn but a misuse of the word “concur”

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … ed-28.html
“After what felt like an entirety”—entirety for eternity
“Could she have dosed off”—dosed for dozed
“this stuck her as odd”—stuck for struck

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … on-27.html
“plants and tree in eighty verities”—verities for varieties
“want a be gangsta”—not sure if this counts
“postanticounter”—not sure what he means here. He’s making fun of hippies. counterculture?

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … ce-21.html
“to help alive the professors”—alive for alleviate

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … of-16.html
“What is left for me to due”—due for do
“and if that means having to let out a sigh everyone and a while”—he means “having to let out a sigh every once and a while”

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … er-25.html

“not shearly for fashion”—shearly for solely

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … ce-12.html
“More people showed up just to watch then to buy”—then for than. Does this count?
“With just a carload of his belongs”—belongs instead of belongings.
“only the occasional roadside distraction”—I think he means “attraction”

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … ide-7.html
“I can stop standing on the street coroner”—coroner for corner
“I have grown accustom”—accustomed—he does this about 4 times

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … ion-4.html
“the human desire to out due each other”—out due instead of outdo
“for time to time”—should be “from time to time”

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … cting.html
“Sometimes my mother will go out of town to work and end up working for some asshole and end up dragging up”—I have a feeling this is a misused word but I can’t make out what he means here.
“so that is the exclusion”—he means “that is the exception” (it’s clear with the rest of the paragraph)

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/04/fin.html
“Sometimes I do not know how well receipted my work is going to be”—he means “well received”
“Should I consider a career in writing?”—I would say no!
“but it is only on the count that”—he means “it is only on account of”

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … essie.html
“I think it is worst on the children,”—he means worse
“The propose of work”—propose for purpose

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … st-of.html
“I have mutter through it”—he means “I have muddled through”

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/04/cashflow.html
by instead of buy, and “groceries store” instead of grocery store

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/03/week.html
“If you were to be within ear shoot of me standing next to a six foot five black man and calling him “cuz” most people would think that I was just using a euphemism but no, he is my cousin.”—This is funny because he uses the word euphemism here, he’s using it incorrectly but at least it’s spelled right. In another entry he says “youthamism.”
“a wicked case of dayjavue”—deja vu
“I had been duked”—he means duped
“but my cousin as well, committed on how big it looked”—he means commented

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … tions.html
“The two things that I miss about elementary school is the naps.”—no words misused but just funny because he never says the second thing!

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/03/diff.html
“Just like a tiger cant change his spots”—hmm… tigers don’t have spots
“people that have wired eating habits.”—should be weird
“who is a ripped and a mussel head”—he means muscle

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … -what.html
“You Chews”—should be “you choose”
“The next person he passes cross with”—should be “crosses paths with”—a Spoonerism?

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … -from.html
“a fair and justice institution”—should be “just”
“the flu or phenomena”—pneumonia
“make all the same dictions”—should be “decisions”

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/02/con.html
“this would of”—classic eggcorn
“the questioner will mindlessly drown on”—drone on
“the pointless onslot of information from”—onslaught

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … world.html
“guys repelling form helicopters”—rappelling

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … thing.html
“shopping for nothing unparticular”—nothing in particular
“incandescing light”—incandescent light
“have to stir them or tent to them”—tend to them

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … sh100.html
“a world of shock and ah”—shock and awe
“Riddle Scott movie” the director’s name is Ridley Scott

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … -tree.html
“no clue what to except”—should be “expect”
“after she pasted away”—passed away
“riving in pain”—writhing in pain

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … times.html
peoples pursuit of things takes hold firmly after adolescents
“You have to limit yourself on how many “get her done” and “gag me with a spoon” you can have in your life. Youthamism are just that, for the youth to use, no honest adult should fall for the MTV trappings.”—the eggcorn that started it all!

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/01/you-pick.html
“As we walk down through the through fairs”— thoroughfares
“when the risk of profit lums high”—looms

http://walkalongwith.blogspot.com/2007/ … ining.html
“This in not due to the mtv culture that has befallen us all, it’s shortly because my time here, up to this point, has been filled with thing I have to do.”—I’m pretty sure he meant “it’s strictly because…”

And there you have it! The most eggcorns by any single author, ever! And I bet I’m the only person to ever read this whole blog other than his poor teacher!

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#2 2017-01-29 17:21:06

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

Re: This blog is a cornucopia of eggcorns!

I think we should should weigh the hypothesis that this entire blog is an exercise in pretense. Perhaps generated during a Jan to May writing class. Writing down, imitating the style and vocabulary of a partly literate author, is a famous writing meme. We see it most famously in Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. Also in Anita Loos’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. And in the extensive Adrian Mole series of books by Sue Townsend.

Still, even if these slips are the literary equivalent of puns, they could lead us to real examples of eggcorns. Some of these are worth investigating. Thanks for taking the time to transcribe all of this.


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

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#3 2017-01-29 21:14:03

Dixon Wragg
Eggcornista
From: Cotati, California
Registered: 2008-07-04
Posts: 1375

Re: This blog is a cornucopia of eggcorns!

Welcome to the Eggcorn Forum, worksanddays!

Of the examples you cite, I don’t see most of them as eggcorns. Instead they seem to be misspellings, typos, poor word choices, errors caused by spell-check programs, etc. Most of them miss eggcornicity by not having a plausible meaning connection between acorn and eggcorn, others miss the mark by not being pronounced anywhere near the same, and still others are just plain obvious misspellings. I think these are the ones that may actually be eggcorns:

“wrecked havoc” – wrecked for wreaked
“After what felt like an entirety”—entirety for eternity
“Could she have dosed off”—dosed for dozed
“not shearly for fashion”—shearly for solely
“only the occasional roadside distraction”—I think he means “attraction”
“guys repelling form helicopters”—rappelling
“a world of shock and ah”—shock and awe
“You have to limit yourself on how many “get her done” and “gag me with a spoon” you can have in your life. Youthamism are just that, for the youth to use…”

Some of these have already been discussed in this forum. I recommend doing this whenever considering posting here: Go to the second search field on the Eggcorn Database page, the one marked “Google Search”, and see if your proposed eggcorn (or other treat) has already been discussed. If so, you may want to add to an existing relevant thread rather than proliferating new threads for the same eggcorn. (It took me awhile to figure this out, so now I mention it to newbies as needed to facilitate their assimilation.)

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#4 2017-01-31 07:50:15

yanogator
Eggcornista
From: Ohio
Registered: 2007-06-07
Posts: 237

Re: This blog is a cornucopia of eggcorns!

In “not shearly for fashion”, “shearly” isn’t for “solely”, but just a misspelling of “sheerly”


“I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin

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#5 2017-01-31 08:29:44

Dixon Wragg
Eggcornista
From: Cotati, California
Registered: 2008-07-04
Posts: 1375

Re: This blog is a cornucopia of eggcorns!

yanogator wrote:

In “not shearly for fashion”, “shearly” isn’t for “solely”, but just a misspelling of “sheerly”

Yeah, probably not an eggcorn, though the substitution could be shaped by the relationship of shears (scissors) to fashion.

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#6 2017-02-13 11:02:48

worksanddays
Member
Registered: 2017-01-26
Posts: 3

Re: This blog is a cornucopia of eggcorns!

Dixon Wragg wrote:

Of the examples you cite, I don’t see most of them as eggcorns….

I knew that not all were eggcorns, though at the time of posting I thought more of them were than what you mentioned. I don’t think they are all misspellings… just from the way he wrote, I really think it’s plausible that he thought these were the correct words in these phrases. I only included ones where I really thought he meant that word. I didn’t list all the mixed metaphors and other misused phrases, but his overall use of language made me think these weren’t just errors but the way he intended to write the word. He was more likely to mix up a verb tense or make a grammatical mistake than to make a typo.

As I sift through the eggcorn database, there are many I encounter where it seems like they could be misspellings, words where there is only one letter off from the correct version. So I included those in my list where I thought he had really intended that word, even if the word used was close to the correct word.

Some of these have already been discussed in this forum. I recommend doing this whenever considering posting here: Go to the second search field on the Eggcorn Database page, the one marked “Google Search”, and see if your proposed eggcorn (or other treat) has already been discussed. If so, you may want to add to an existing relevant thread rather than proliferating new threads for the same eggcorn. (It took me awhile to figure this out, so now I mention it to newbies as needed to facilitate their assimilation.)

Yes I know most are already in the forum. I only posted my post because I was so incredulous that one person could make so many entertaining and funny errors. I have read a lot of blogs and never found one with even close to this many eggcorns, mixed and misused metaphors, and other creative language crimes. Of course misspellings and grammatical errors are common on the internet, but this person had an amazing ability to murder whatever phrase he was attempting to use, but in a funny/creative way. My post was intended as more of a “most eggcorns/misused words in one place,” like a Guinness entry. I wasn’t implying that all the things I listed were undiscovered eggcorns. Maybe I posted it in the wrong section, but I couldn’t find a better place for it.
——————-
kem wrote:

I think we should should weigh the hypothesis that this entire blog is an exercise in pretense. Perhaps generated during a Jan to May writing class. Writing down, imitating the style and vocabulary of a partly literate author, is a famous writing meme.

I’m positive that isn’t the case. This is a lonely blog with zero comments or likes. Yes it is clearly written for an English class, as he addresses his teacher directly in almost every entry, as well as talking about his grade in the class. But it didn’t have the feel of fiction at all. Are you saying that based on my post, or did you actually read the blog? I think if you read it you would see what I mean.

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#7 2017-02-13 14:36:04

worksanddays
Member
Registered: 2017-01-26
Posts: 3

Re: This blog is a cornucopia of eggcorns!

Dixon Wragg wrote:

Of the examples you cite, I don’t see most of them as eggcorns. Instead they seem to be misspellings, typos, poor word choices, errors caused by spell-check programs, etc. Most of them miss eggcornicity by not having a plausible meaning connection between acorn and eggcorn, others miss the mark by not being pronounced anywhere near the same, and still others are just plain obvious misspellings. I think these are the ones that may actually be eggcorns: [snip]

The ones you chose for your list are interesting… ““Could she have dosed off”—dosed for dozed”—that’s one of the ones that I didn’t think was an eggcorn because it seemed more like a misspelling with no added meaning. I almost didn’t include it. So it’s interesting that’s one of the few you included in your list. I think deciding which are eggcorns is very subjective. Also, I don’t think most of these are misspellings. The author of the blog mentioned that he types with two fingers, making misspellings less common since he is looking at the keyboard and typing slowly and methodically, not typing quickly while looking at the screen (as I do.. and I make a lot of typos). He definitely made a lot of grammatical errors and other mistakes, but as far as simple typos, I didn’t see as many of them. That’s why I’m pretty certain that he meant to type these words the way he did. Also, many of them require more than one letter changed to form the word he typed.

Here is my pared down list of the ones I really think are eggcorns. I took out possible misspellings or ones that didn’t add meaning. For the ones that you didn’t include in your list, I’ve added my defense of why they should be included, in bold, and why I think they add meaning. I also included some links, in the cases where someone had already written about it in the forum or database.

I think these are all the ones that are actually eggcorns:

“wrecked havoc” – wrecked for wreaked—on your list

“and not every well rounded.”—every for very—I can see this as an eggcorn because “very” and “every” both have the meaning of “a lot”

“After what felt like an entirety”—entirety for eternity—on your list

“Could she have dosed off”—dosed for dozed—on your list

“this stuck her as odd”—stuck for struck—this has added meaning because it’s like the thought “stuck” to her brain.

“to help alive the professors”—alive for alleviate—It’s like they are helping the professors stay more alive by alleviating their pain/stress

“What is left for me to due”—due for do—The word “due” can have various meanings that all include obligation, expectation, and requirement. So I see this as, the whole phrase is about obligation, like, “what things are still due for me to do.”

“and if that means having to let out a sigh everyone and a while”— I see this as similar to the original phrase, but instead of referring to various time periods, he makes it mean various people. It still kind of works.

“not shearly for fashion”—shearly for solely—Someone posted that he could have meant “sheerly” but after looking up the definitions, I don’t see how that could work in context. He meant “such-and-such is used not only for fashion but for…” I guess he could have meant “solely”, mistaken it for “sheerly” and then misspelled it.

“With just a carload of his belongs”—belongs instead of belongings. This is too different to be a misspelling. Not sure if it adds meaning, but it kind of turns “belong” into a noun and the makes it plural.

“only the occasional roadside distraction”—I think he means “attraction”—on your list

“for time to time”—should be “from time to time”— Instead of meaning that someone, for example, likes singing from one individual time, to another time—it means someone likes singing FOR a time, and then for another time. It kind of tweaks the meaning a little. I think the cause here is the common phrase “for a time.” Actually, I find it easier to parse “for time to time” than “from time to time”!

“so that is the exclusion”—he means “that is the exception” (it’s clear with the rest of the paragraph)—Both exclusion and exception have similar meanings, namely setting something apart from a group. He is talking about how he never stayed in one place for a whole school year, except ninth grade, “so that is the exclusion.” So, ninth grade is excluded from the pattern of having to move in the middle of every school year.

“Sometimes I do not know how well receipted my work is going to be”—he means “well received”—these are spelled too differently to just be a misspelling. The fact that the two words have very similar meanings doesn’t really make it less of an eggcorn in my opinion

“but it is only on the count that”— This is included in the forum: http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?id=4797 It changes “account”—meaning “reason” to “the count,” which could mean “the count [of reasons]” or simply “the count of everything being considered in this instance.” It’s a little hard to tease out, but since he said “on THE count of” instead of “on A count of” I don’t think it’s just a misspelling.

“The propose of work”—propose for purpose—I think this adds meaning, since it kind of makes it “the reason work is proposed, is because…”

“I have mutter through it”—he means “I have muddled through”—Mutter means “say something in a low or barely audible voice, especially in dissatisfaction or irritation.” So it kind of implies that he “muttered though” the task, he was muttering while doing it because it was difficult or he was unclear about it. The difference between speaking normally and muttering is kind of the difference between doing something correctly and “muddling through.” So I think it adds meaning.

“I had been duked”—he means duped—This one is already mentioned in the forum: ”>http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?id=171*

“the questioner will mindlessly drown on”—drone on—The listeners felt like they were drowning because it was so boring. Or the speaker was drowning in verbiage. I think this adds meaning. It’s too different to be a misspelling.

“the pointless onslot of information from”—onslaught—Has been addressed several times in the forum, opinions were divided as to whether it’s an eggcorn: ”>http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … p?id=1982*

“incandescing light”—incandescent light Becomes more like other words the writer has probably heard that end with ”-ing” rather than the less common ”-ent” for an adjective. It makes the light a more active participant in its “incandescing.”

“a world of shock and ah”—shock and awe—on your list

“after she pasted away”—passed away—She is now in the past because she has pasted away

“riving in pain”—writhing in pain To rive means “split or tear apart violently.” So “riving in pain” actually makes a lot of sense.”

“You have to limit yourself on how many “get her done” and “gag me with a spoon” you can have in your life. Youthamism are just that, for the youth to use, no honest adult should fall for the MTV trappings.”—the eggcorn that started it all! http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/english/1106/youthamism/

“As we walk down through the through fairs”— thoroughfares—This makes sense because thoroughfares run through fairs… where “fair” is a replacement for “fairway” or “fair weather.”

_
And these are the non-eggcorns that didn’t seem like just typos—some other random malapropisms and homonyms, including one spoonerism:
“postanticounter”—not sure what he means here. He’s making fun of hippies.— I think he mashed together “counterculture” and “antiestablishment,” with a dash of “postmodernism.”
“Riddle Scott movie” the director’s name is Ridley Scott
“The next person he passes cross with”—should be “crosses paths with”— a Spoonerism
“You Chews”—should be “you choose”
“Just like a tiger cant change his spots”—hmm… tigers don’t have spots
“should be required to take what I conceder refresher courses”—he meant “what I concede are”
“I do want to be here even if my attendance does not exactly concur.”— misuse of the word “concur”
“I can stop standing on the street coroner”— coroner for corner
Found another rereading one entry—“silver liner” for “sliver lining”—not quite an eggcorn though

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#8 2017-02-13 15:14:05

Dixon Wragg
Eggcornista
From: Cotati, California
Registered: 2008-07-04
Posts: 1375

Re: This blog is a cornucopia of eggcorns!

Hi, worksanddays!

I will not find time/energy to address your torrent of examples in detail. Herewith, a few general remarks:

I think you have perceived correctly that many purported eggcorns are in the shadowland of “Is it an eggcorn or isn’t it?” Even when the pronunciation is close and there is a plausible meaning connection, there’s often no guarantee that it’s an eggcorn as opposed to a misspelling, pun, or whatever. Often, especially with proposed eggcorns that aren’t in common use, we may never know whether it’s really an eggcorn for any of those who have used it. In addition to phonetic similarity and a plausible meaning connection, establishing that the proposed eggcorn is in fairly common use can help build a case for it.

Some of your arguments for eggcornicity are pretty good, making a case that the word under discussion might really be an eggcorn for some speakers or writers; others are, I think, too much of a stretch. For instance, changing -ent to -ing is not eggcorning. I do think you underestimate the likelihood of typos and misspellings in the text under consideration; I reckon that two-finger typing is less proof against typos than you think it is. Also, keep in mind that many typos and misspellings differ from the intended spelling by more than one letter, due to various cognitive glitches such as “anticipation errors” among others. Also, some may be silicisms (errors with technological sources such as spell-check programs).

Anyway, nice to have you with us, worksanddays. Excelsior!

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#9 2017-02-16 21:11:03

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

Re: This blog is a cornucopia of eggcorns!

Thanks worksanddays (your nickname brings to mind some happy days with Hesiod) for wading through this, well, swamp and sorting out the eggcorn candidates.

did you actually read the blog?

Alas, yes, I did read great hunks of it. What made me suspicious were the large number of long, latinate words that were spelled and used correctly. I doubt that he could have gotten those words right without a spelling checker. But if he had a spelling checker, he would not have used so many words that were not in checker dictionaries.


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

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#10 2017-06-21 21:34:30

Johnnieapons
Member
From: Madagascar
Registered: 2017-06-07
Posts: 6

Re: This blog is a cornucopia of eggcorns!

жилые помещения не подлежат приватизации жилые помещения находящиеся


долговая расписка за товар образец
koifgytr98731

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#11 2017-06-23 06:26:00

yanogator
Eggcornista
From: Ohio
Registered: 2007-06-07
Posts: 237

Re: This blog is a cornucopia of eggcorns!

@worksanddays
You said that you don’t see how the blogger could have intended “sheerly” when writing “shearly”. “Sheerly” (according to dictionary.com) can mean “merely” or “simply”, which is the meaning the blogger intended.

Also, I’m sure that “what I conceder refresher courses” was intended to be “what I consider refresher courses”, not “what I concede are refresher courses”.

Last edited by yanogator (2017-06-23 06:28:17)


“I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin

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#12 2017-08-31 01:14:18

Dixon Wragg
Eggcornista
From: Cotati, California
Registered: 2008-07-04
Posts: 1375

Re: This blog is a cornucopia of eggcorns!

Looking back at the title of this thread, could it really be possible that none of us has, as yet, coined the term “eggcornucopia”?

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#13 2017-09-18 15:38:08

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

Re: This blog is a cornucopia of eggcorns!

You get credit for “eggcornucopia,” Dixon.


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

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#14 2017-09-18 15:39:24

Dixon Wragg
Eggcornista
From: Cotati, California
Registered: 2008-07-04
Posts: 1375

Re: This blog is a cornucopia of eggcorns!

kem wrote:

You get credit for “eggcornucopia,” Dixon.

Yesssss!

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