Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
Winsome. Win some. A stealth eggcorn we haven’t mentioned on the Forum yet.
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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Actually, kem, confirming it as a stealth eggcorn will be difficult, because preachers and other religious types have been using “winsome” to mean “able to win (people) to your side”, especially in a religious sense, unsurprisingly, for some time (at least 5 years).
“I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin
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“Winsome” would still be a stealth-eggcorn, since the word “win” (=obtain) comes from a different A-S root than the word in “winsome” (that “win” = joy/pleasure).
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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Yes, Kem, I agree with that now. Thanks.
“I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin
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Pursuing winsome led to some interesting multicultural aha moments: winsome => loosome => kimmer => cummer => commère => compère => compay.
Edit: Oops, that last leap was rash. I assumed that compay came from compadre, but it is from compañero.
Last edited by David Bird (2018-03-07 13:56:04)
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