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Chris -- 2018-04-11

#1 2006-03-12 17:14:07

klakritz
Eggcornista
From: Winchester Massachusetts
Registered: 2005-10-25
Posts: 674

'skewer' for 'skew'

Ben Zimmer contributed the eggcorn ‘skew’ for ‘skewer’ to the database. This converse eggcorn is also fairly common. To skewer is to attack or mock, so when an opinion or a mathematical distribution is ‘skewered’ rather than skewed, the asymmetry or partiality of the opinion or distribution is being held up as evidence of attack or tampering. Examples:

I agree with lots of The folks on here that think The polls are inherently skewered to The right.
www.smirkingchimp.com/viewtopic.php?top … start=1150

Your views are so skewered to the right by what you see in the main stream media, that you don’t even see past the blinders put on you by your own party!
bigpumpkins.com/msgboard/ViewThread.asp?b=13&p=92301

As for the film…yes it was skewered to the left and it was supposed to be.
www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1 … oding=UTF8

so, if Morris says Time is skewered to The left, is that worth 5 points—Bush really has what, a 20 -25 point lead?
www.macminute.com/cgi-bin/wwwthreads/sh … age=10&am.

They also criticized the skewered distribution of food aid along political party lines, and the government’s controversial land reforms…
www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_19696_ENG_HTM.htm

...but electoral crime in ohio helped to clinch the swindle—skewered distribution of voting machines to Republican precincts at the expense of Democratic …
seattlegossip.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=131&sid=23b257b940a854d47d9d67e98beb3764

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#2 2006-11-15 07:24:07

Jim Dixon
Member
From: St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Registered: 2006-08-11
Posts: 44

Re: 'skewer' for 'skew'

Hits on Google:

Skewer the results: 47
Skewer the facts: 4
Skewer the statistics: 6
Skewer the outcome: 3
Skewer the analysis: 2
Skewer the ratio: 2
Skewer the market: 1
Skewer the output: 1
Skewer the sample: 1

From Google Book Search (http://books.google.com/):

“I think that they have witnessed systematic efforts by employers to skewer the facts in their favor and to systematically eliminate people who, in fact….”—Title: Immigration Act of 1989
Publisher: For sale by the Supt. of Docs., Congressional Sales Office, U.S. G.P.O.
Author(s): United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and International Law
Publication Date: 1989
Page: 469

“In Oregon, too, we have a substantial seasonal influx of migrant workers that are largely male, so I think that serves to skewer the sample somewhat.”
Title: Hunger and Poverty Among Single Persons
Publisher: For sale by the Supt. of Docs., Congressional Sales Office, U.S. G.P.O.
Author(s): United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Hunger. Domestic Task Force
Publication Date: 1990
Page: 33

“As a result, both wait times and accountability are exceedingly top of mind in Quebec and can skewer the results of national polls.”—CBC News Online | June 23, 2006
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/reali … 60623.html

Last edited by Jim Dixon (2006-11-15 07:25:39)

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