Eggcorn Forum

Discussions about eggcorns and related topics

You are not logged in.

Announcement

Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to if you wish to register.

The forum administrator reserves the right to request users to plausibly demonstrate that they are real people with an interest in the topic of eggcorns. Otherwise they may be removed with no further justification. Likewise, accounts that have not been used for posting may be removed.

Thanks for your understanding.

Chris -- 2018-04-11

#1 2010-09-13 05:50:15

Peter Forster
Eggcornista
From: UK
Registered: 2006-09-06
Posts: 1222

'box standard' for 'bog standard'

I heard someone on the radio use the term bog standard – meaning ordinary, everyday, ‘nothing special’ – but he seemed to slip an extra sibilant next to the original. Since his speech was clearly high-end standard BrEnglish I assumed there was a disinclination to use such a vernacular expression and he had, eggcornishly, reinterpreted it as box standard.
I subsequently found this discussion: www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/bog-standard.html

yes i would recommend this little mobile phone to anyone wanting a box standard mobile with a few thrills. ...

As a result, for people on a tight budget it may make more sense to get a box-standard coffee maker with glass carafe and transfer the coffee into a thermo …

Nothing glamerous just a box standard keyboard.

2 FORMER OWNERS 71891 MILES yeah basically i got a box standard ford fiesta classic 1.3. Its got. 71000 Miles.

Offline

 

#2 2010-09-15 16:37:47

fpberger
Eggcornista
Registered: 2006-08-16
Posts: 130

Re: 'box standard' for 'bog standard'

I’ve never heard the “bog standard” phrase in the US, but I have heard people use “standard, off-the-shelf” to indicate that something isn’t customized. “Standard, right-out-of-the-box” would be a less common but similar image.

Offline

 

#3 2010-09-15 17:30:17

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2714
Website

Re: 'box standard' for 'bog standard'

I would have judged “out of the box” to be more current than “off the shelf”, especially if it’s anything electronic. Twice as many ghits reported (if that’s worth anything: we’re talking millions, of course—and there’s “thinking out[side] of the box” mixed in there as well.)
.
In any case, both are used in computing, but with somewhat different meanings: OOTB means “ready to run” and is likely to mean an end-user will need nothing more in the way of adaptations or additional components, whereas OTS means “readily available commercially”, and is likely to suggest that an end-user will use it as a mere component in some more elaborate system, i.e. will definitely need other components and perhaps special adaptations to make things work the way they want.
.
Wikipedia:

Out of the box is the term used to denote items, functionalities, or features that do not require any additional installation. In addition to being used for tangible products, the phrase is often used in a less literal sense for software, which may not be distributed in an actual box but offer certain functions “out of the box,” i.e. without modification.

Commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) or simply off the shelf (OTS) is a term defining technology which is ready-made and available for sale, lease, or license to the general public. The term often refers to computer software or hardware systems and may also include free software with commercial support. COTS purchases are alternatives to in-house developments or one-off government-funded developments. COTS typically requires configuration that is tailored for specific uses. The use of COTS has been mandated across many government and business programs, as such products may offer significant savings in procurement, development, and maintenance. ¶ Considerations ¶ Motivations for using COTS components include hopes for reduction of overall system development and costs (as components can be bought or licensed instead of being developed from scratch) and reduced long-term maintenance costs. In software development, many had considered COTS to be the silver bullet (to reduce cost/time) during the 1990s, but COTS development came with many not-so-obvious tradeoffs—initial cost and development time can definitely be reduced, but often at the expense of an increase in software component-integration work and a dependency on third-party component vendors.[1] In addition, since COTS software specifications are written externally, government agencies sometimes fear future changes to the product will not be compatible.

Likely enough, my feeling that OOTB is more current than OTS is simply a reflection of the fact that I buy my computers off the shelf, expecting them to run when I take them out of the box, rather than buying components off the shelf and putting them together in a new, bigger box, hoping the resulting machine will run.

Last edited by DavidTuggy (2010-09-15 17:44:23)


*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

(Possible Corollary: it is, and we are .)

Offline

 

#4 2020-05-14 19:09:53

David Bird
Eggcornista
From: The Hammer, Ontario
Registered: 2009-07-28
Posts: 1690

Re: 'box standard' for 'bog standard'

Not everyone can love bogs or fens, but those of us who do cannot read the intent of “bog standard”. Perhaps it is we who turn towards another standard, the lowly buck, the oner, the clam, the simoleon.

I think it was in the Deathwatch RPG, a buck-standard, baby-new armored Marine could carry 1,350 kg, lift 2,700 kg, and push 5,400 kg.
gamer chatter

How noticeable would it be? How disturbing? Imaging this in a buck standard TL8 Earth.
gamers again

The word “gold scorpion”, however, refers to the Ishukone Issue Scorpion witch will be a buck standard scorpion as far as performance is conserned
ahem, gamers

I’m reading these suggestions that require different modules and patch cables to do something a buck standard arpeggiator does with the greatest of ease.
synthesizers

Schematic, is a buck standard Royer oscillator like the one on HV wiki, only I am using 235ohm as the resistor
electronics forum

If we look at a buck-standard bass amp (pick one, any one) we would see that there are some elements aligned in series, and other elements aligned in parallel.
bassists

Offline

 

#5 2020-06-23 14:46:52

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

Re: 'box standard' for 'bog standard'

Nice find, “buck-standard.”


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

Offline

 

Board footer

Powered by PunBB
PunBB is © 2002–2005 Rickard Andersson
Individual posters retain the copyright to their posts.

RSS feeds: active topicsall new posts