Eggcorn Forum

Discussions about eggcorns and related topics

You are not logged in.

Announcement

The Eggcorn Forum and the Eggcorn Database are currently in the process of being converted into static sites.

Once the conversion is complete, all existing posts are expected to still be accessible at their original URLs. However, no new posts will be possible.

Feel free to comment on the relevant forum threads.

Chris -- 2025-05-10

#1 2022-08-26 13:53:47

Peter Forster
Eggcornista
From: UK
Registered: 2006-09-06
Posts: 1274

'hang by a threat' for 'hang by a thread'

Assuming an entirely possible unfamiliarity with the basics of textiles, needlecraft, weaving and so on it could be that, should your hopes be threatened, you describe them as hanging by a threat.

Our hopes and dreams hang by a threat, strong yet vulnerable, shaken by the winds set by provocateurs, criminals and assassins, ...

Manchester United’s hopes of signing Raphael Varane this summer hang by a threat after reports emerged that the Real Madrid centre-back is …

But the fact is, that package that we passed last year that hung by a threat—if we’d had one less vote in the Senate, we would not have …

... to reimpose a 14-day quarantine is a massive blow to Spain’s holiday season, which was hanging by a threat even before the announcement.


Well I dreamt I fell into your web, and stuck around
But now I’m hanging by a fret, and it’s a long way down

Offline

 

#2 2022-09-09 07:11:51

David Bird
Eggcornista
From: The Hammer, Ontario
Registered: 2009-07-28
Posts: 1709

Re: 'hang by a threat' for 'hang by a thread'

Ooh, good one. And I think that only you would think to look for “hang by a fret”, Peter. Damocles certainly had reason to fret, sort of.

Last edited by David Bird (2022-09-09 07:42:00)

Offline

 

#3 2022-09-09 10:49:59

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2767
Website

Re: 'hang by a threat' for 'hang by a thread'

I get the picture of the web-stuck victim hanging by his fingernails onto the fret of a vertically-positioned guitar. Which, as you note, Tocayo, is reason to fret, sort of.

Last edited by DavidTuggy (2022-09-09 10:51:24)


*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 2023-06-29 12:34:10

kem
Eggcornista
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 2887

Re: 'hang by a threat' for 'hang by a thread'

Good one.


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