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Chris -- 2025-05-10
“Oranges and Peaches” is a creative reshaping of the title of the book by Charles Darwin, “On the Origin of Species”. It’s not too farfetched to suppose he could have based his theory of evolution on a study of fruit rather than finches. This was first reported as a request submitted to a reference librarian, and served as the title for a 1996 paper by Patricia Dewdney and Gillian Michell:
Oranges and Peaches: Understanding Communication Accidents in the Reference Interview. Reference Quarterly, 35 (4), 520-536.
available at http://www.ala.org/ala/rusa/rusapubs/ru … 1/1998.htm
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On the topic of peaches, a correspondent sent me an email this week with the phrase “thrilled to peaches.†I asked her why she used this version of the idiom. She said “I just liked the term ‘thrilled to peaches’...it made me laugh but I wasn’t sure why. I never even put it together with ‘thrilled to pieces’.â€
As we can see on the web, “thrilled to peaches†is a common form of the expression “thrilled to pieces.†A few of these dozens of hits may be intentional puns, but most seem to be standard speech for the writers.
This eggcorn in this case may improve on the acorn. I’ve never been sure what “thrilled to pieces†meant. Seems like a positive experience ought to make one whole, not fragmented. Disassembly consorts better with the notion of disappointment. Peaches, in contrast, can move the taste buds to ecstasy, so “thrilled to peaches†makes a lot of sense.
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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১০ । মানà§à¦·à§‡à¦° সৃসà§à¦Ÿà¦¿ ।(B)
বিবরà§à¦¤à¦¨ পà§à¦°à¦¾à¦•à§ƒà¦¤à¦¿à¦• নিরà§à¦¬à¦¾à¦šà¦¨ ও পরিবà§à¦¯à¦•à§à¦¤à¦¿ à¦à¦‡ দà§à¦‡ মৌলিক à¦à¦¿à§Ÿà¦¾à¦° দà§à¦¬à¦¾à¦°à¦¾ ঘটে বিবরà§à¦¤à¦¨à§‡à¦° জনà§à¦¯ গà¦à§€à¦°à¦¤à¦¾ বাড়তে বাড়তে à¦à¦• পরà§à¦¯à¦¾à§Ÿ জড় বসà§à¦¤à§ থেকে জৈব বসà§à¦¤à§ DNA (অনà§) থেকে à¦à¦• কোষী পà§à¦°à¦¾à¦¨à§€ ,আসতে আসতে জটিলতর পà§à¦°à¦¾à¦¨à§€ à¦à¦¬à¦‚ à¦à¦• পরà§à¦¯à¦¾à§Ÿ মানà§à¦· পà§à¦°à¦¾à¦¨à§€à¦° মাà¦à§‡ আতà§à¦¨à¦¸à¦šà§‡à¦¤à¦¨à¦¤à¦¾à¦° উদà§à¦à¦¬ হয়।
. আমার পà§à¦°à¦¶à§à¦¨ হল আলà§à¦²à¦¾à¦¹ আমাদের সৃসà§à¦Ÿà¦¿ না করলে ,à¦à¦‡ à¦à¦¾à¦¬à§‡ মানà§à¦· à¦à¦–ন কেন সৃসà§à¦Ÿà¦¿ হইনা ?
science কি theory তে বিশà§à¦¬à¦¾à¦¸à§€ ?science তো fact ঠবিশà§à¦¬à¦¾à¦¸à§€à¥¤ evolution তো à¦à¦•à¦Ÿà¦¾ theory !বই à¦à¦° নামই হলো Charles Darwin Theory of Evolution ।Charles Darwin – the origin of peaches বইটি কি পড়েন নি? Charles Darwin à¦à¦•à¦Ÿà¦¿ চিঠি পাঠালেন JOHN HERSCHEL à¦à¦° কাছে ১৮৬১ সালে তিনি লিখেছেন আমি বিশà§à¦¬à¦¾à¦¸ করি না Theory of Evolution কারন আমার কাছে কোন পà§à¦°à§à¦« নেই।আমি à¦à¦‡à¦Ÿà¦¾à¦•à§‡ শà§à¦§à§ মাঠবিশà§à¦¬à¦¾à¦¸ করি à¦à¦‡ কারনে- à¦à¦‡à¦Ÿà¦¾ আমাকে সাহাযà§à¦¯ করে classification of embryology,morphology
The above seems to be a real hit, but the speaker is clearly ESL. Google Translate can give you the gist of what he’s saying. It’s Bengali.
Otherwise, lots of hits for loving someone to peaches. Logical progression: “I hate those meeses to pieces!”, to loving to pieces, to thrilling to pieces. To peaches does seem inordinately cutesy, though.
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