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Chris -- 2018-04-11
Google counts on Nov. 26, 2006
33,400 “shuffle off this mortal coil”
228 “shove off this mortal coil”—eggcorn
Analysis by Joe Krozel
“To shuffle off this mortal coil” is a chiefly British expression (from Hamlet) meaning “to die.” To some, “shuffle” may seem to be an action for the feet, and perhaps “shove” seems more appropriate when refering to one’s mortal coil.
Examples:
digg / sirchadlington / duggHow about killing yourself like a man? Here are some manly ways to shove off this mortal coil, along with ratings for each category from 1 to 10. ...
digg.com/users/sirchadlington/dugg/page3 – 44k – Cached – Similar pages
Canada—no, the West’s—Looming Health Care Crisis (Bow. James …The third alternative is to have the government decide for us how long people get to live, and the manner in which they shove off this mortal coil. ...
www.bowjamesbow.ca/2004/09/29/canada_no_the_w.shtml – 27k – Cached – Similar pages
EvC Forum: RobinRohan has diedThe time must always come to shove off this mortal coil, but the spirit shall forever be. We pray for his wife. Let the continuity of the soul keep Robin …
www.evcforum.net/cgi-bin/dm.cgi?action= … =1626&m=91 – 68k – Cached – Similar pages
The “Innocent” World of Me!Here are some manly ways to shove off this mortal coil, along with ratings for each category from 1 to 10: Eat a tub full of beans: ...
www.sammybear.blogspot.com/ – 45k – Cached – Similar pages
Meticulous Vandalism“Oh, ooh, oooh me neck, time to shove off this mortal coil, sob.†Doesn’t it look like these guys are just making things up at this point ? ...
www.premee.cybr.org/ – 59k – Cached – Similar pages
Sam And Fuzzy Forums :: View topic – Dying of heartbreak?I had a lot of things planned that I wouldn’t be able to finish if I suddenly up and shove off this mortal coil. _ monocole ...
www.samandfuzzy.com/forum/viewtopic.php … 640ed3f75d – 73k – Cached – Similar pages
MSN SpacesHere are some manly ways to shove off this mortal coil, along with ratings for … drunken and disordly homeless person, so hear me brothers and sisters, ...
www.msnspaces.net/default.aspx?page=sea … +this+m… – 47k – Supplemental Result – Cached – Similar pages
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I really like this one, because the substitution of “shove” for “shuffle” is actually a return to the original sense of the expression. For years I took it for granted that “this mortal coil” was the earth; when we died we “shuffled off” it, walking slowly and unwillingly away.
But of course it doesn’t mean this at all. “Mortal coil” refers to the tangled complications of our earthly life, which we “shuffle off”-get rid of-when we die. To put it simply, “shuffle off” and “shove off” are near synonyms.
It’s unlikely, however, that people who make this mistake are well posted on Shakespeare’s precise meaning. “Shove’ is probably a stab in the dark by someone who misheard the original.
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“Shuffle off this mortal coil” seems to have inspired quite a number of eggcornish variations. I found “shovel off this mortal coil,” “this morbid coil,” and “this immortal coil.” I think I like the first one best, for more or less the same reasons Fishbait1 likes “shove”—it speaks to the vast weight of mortal burdens being left behind.
Below I give all the examples I found of “shovel off this mortal coil” and “this morbid coil.” There are dozens and dozens of examples of “this immortal coil,” a phrase which seems to me to betray a very fundamental misunderstanding of the concept. Examples:
from the latest numbers i can find after searching thoroughly(and these are estimate,s i must admit) for every soldier that dies in iraq 10 to 15 ex-baathists and jihadis shovel off this mortal coil
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=7685
“Well, before anyone else here decides to shovel off this mortal coil, I’m going to bed. I’m sure Kaylee won’t mind my smell now.â€
http://www.shades-of-moonlight.com/du/a … ssence.php
And when I do slither off this morbid coil, don’t hang around too long for the reading of the will and the distribution of possessions because there won’t be any.
http://theduckofearl.blogspot.com/2005/ … n-out.html
And yet, how foolish we look after, stuffing ourselves into a crypt for living ever on in this morbid coil, making it all strictly subjective, than objective mother nature ever reigns past our imaginations.
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/fo … try1163246
But through many trials that this morbid coil we call mortality, there is only wisdom to regain from all this madness….......
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:FGm … =clnk&cd=2
However, he explained, it would soon be time for him to pass on from this immortal coil, and he required a person of good heart and quick mind to pass on what he had learned.
http://vampirerpg.free.fr/Bloodlines/Av … iedne.html
We LIKE our system of checks and balances, and we’ll be DAMNED if we’re going to tolerate any move to eliminate the FILIBUSTER in conjunction with the selection of black robed GOONS who can be installed on us til the day they shuffle off this IMMORTAL COIL on the Supreme Court.
http://www.iahf.com/20050522.html
How even though the old ones are dying out the new ones are impatient and can’t wait to shuffle them off this immortal coil.
http://blogs.epicindia.com/leapinthedar … meric.html
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