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Chris -- 2018-04-11
CNN reporter yesterday, during coverage of the Jodi Arias trial: “I don’t know if she was trying to besmirk Travis Alexander’s reputation. . . .”
On On,
Paul Woodford
Paul’s Thing
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Good spotting. The fabrication “besmirk” makes sense in context—making wry fun.
“Besmirch” from “smirch.” There’s another lost radical. At least I think it’s lost. I haven’t heard “smirch” without the “be-” in my lifetime. OED indicates that it was not a lost radical in the nineteenth century.
Quite a few examples of “besmirk” on the web:
Lulu-published novel: “a few childish idiots besmirked the … reputation of all Navy pilotsâ€
Amazon review: “His General Besmirked By Amateursâ€
Thread on motorcycles: “ you’re the one who belittled and besmirked my rideâ€
Last edited by kem (2013-04-25 10:39:35)
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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I remember struggling unsuccessfully not to laugh in church when I heard the preacher say
the woman who washed Jesus’ tears with her feet [sic] had a smirky reputation
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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There’s a murky bunch: besmirch, besmutch, besmut, besmudge, that go way back. And now besmirk. And …
Tourism is dead in this country due to the mistakes of Liberals and the left to besmurk our once pristine image in the face of the world.
Conservative homophobia forum
Last edited by David Bird (2013-04-25 15:45:59)
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spread malicious lies to besmudge my reputation
Any negative statements that you may have read or heard are fabricated by my competitors in an attempt to besmudge my name.
‘Murky’ is right. There on the Merriam-Webster definition of ‘besmudge’
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/besmudge
is a Nearly Eggcorn, a Nearcorn:
Thomas Penn was most upset that his reputation as an honorable man had been besmudged by Sir William’s insinuations. —Beth Fowkes Tobin, Picturing Imperial Power, 1999
Whether or not ‘besmirch’ was what the writer meant we’ll never know.
Both words are smoky words, besmirch meant to cover with soot (or mud) and a smudge is a smoky fire, as in smudge-pot.
On the plain in Spain where it mainly rains.
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A nearcorn. Good one. The sound isn’t really close enough to call it an eggcorn.
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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