Eggcorn Forum

Most media postings about eggcorns rehash examples that we have known for some time. One such posting, an article on eggcorns that was published in Salon, came across my desk this week. But there is one eggcorn in this list that I don’t think (though I may have missed it) has made it onto our pages: “happy as a clown” for “happy as a clam.” I also found the same eggcorn in another list on Viralnova.

Plenty of examples of people using the phrase “happy as a clown.” Perhaps the reason we haven’t discussed it is that “clown” and “clam” are bit far apart, soundwise. Also, it is easy to imagine that speech habits jumped directly to “happy as a clown” without detouring through “happy as a clam.” Still, it could be eggcornish.

The usual explanation for the curious “happy as a clam,” by the way, is that it is a shortened form of “happy as a clam at high tide.” One such explanation here.

I notice two other eggcorns on the Viralnova list that we may not have discussed before: “junkstart” (for jumpstart) and “skyscratcher” (for skyscraper). “Junkstart” (example here ) is interesting. A car that won’t start is arguably junk.