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Chris -- 2018-04-11
I thought it was just a slip of the tongue when I heard a talk show guest use “cobble” (put together piecemeal) for “hobble” (hinder) a couple of days ago. But I just spotted it on a website:
http://www.cmeas.com/faq.htm“If there is one thing that cobbles previous CMEAS participants from organizing their own UK tour effectively, it is a basic lack of this understanding. ”
And now I’ve found another example:
http://uk.messages.news.yahoo.com/World … rt=2&off=1“Now let us look at the FACTS, Belarus is the last Stalinist state in Europe, LukaÅ¡enko called an early election to cobble his opponents registration.”
I wonder if there is a precedent in a particular form of the phrase, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions,” as shown here:
http://samsonblinded.org/blog/india-nuc … gement.htm“Nuclear compromise with India: the best intentions cobble the road to hell”
It was hard to come up with a good Google search that would find examples of “cobble” that might use the “hobble” meaning.
[edited to add another example]:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/di … id=2447874
“When you withhold funds from the DNC, you cobble his efforts to effect REAL change.”
From: “Chapuisat” <swor…@att.net>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc
Subject: Re: Pleas stop “Monday morning quarter-backing”
Message-ID: <JuRn7.22158$KV3.1801351@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>
Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 22:39:37 GMT
“We have cobbled our intelligence community since the end
of the cold war. We have too many restrictions on our agents as to what
they can do and how they can do it.”
Last edited by jupiter9 (2007-02-02 18:09:12)
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Nice eggcorn find Jupiter9. The only thing that I would add to your comments is a remark about the imagery surrounding “cobble” that begot it’s mistaken usage (in place of “hobble”). My thoughts are this: a cobblestone road is often difficult to walk on, so one might associate “cobble” with hindrance …which returns us to the meaning of “hobble”.
As a separate point, I can’t decide whether the reverse mistake (using “hobble” in place of “cobble”) is a malapropism or an eggcorn. Granted “Hobble together” is wrongly used to mean “cobble together” (put together piecemeal), but it seems to have the added meaning of doing so with difficulty—which brings us to another definition of “hobble”: “to move along with difficulty.” I’ll let the judges decide whether I’ve stretched my imagination a bit too far on this one.
Examples:
Comments on: Sonos, music everywhere in your home & Philips AV remoteSure you could probably hobble together some that could give you something similar, but theres no way it would be as seemless and effortless as using the …
scobleizer.com/2006/04/08/sonos-music-everywhere-in-your-home-philips-av-remote/feed/ – 15k – Cached – Similar pages
The Commonwealth Journal | Vol 65 Issue 1Many workers we talked to were looking for a full-time job but often could do no more than hobble together several part-time jobs, a situation further …
www.saskndp.com/cw/65.1/mostavailablehours.html – 24k – Cached – Similar pages
Jonathan’s Corner: The Patriarchy We Object ToAnd one can probably assemble things, get some measure of functionality, perhaps hobble together a working bicycle. And if one does not have a working car, ...
jonathanscorner.com/writing/patriarchy/ – 15k – Cached – Similar pages
pc4mediaYou’d have to hobble together a few million tailgate parties to sell the equivalent dollar volume of beer. But, online tools for party planning is obviously …
worcester.typepad.com/ – 45k – Cached – Similar pages
BKV.TV :: View topic – BKV Superman?DC makes you buy all the issues with their damn crossovers when they can only hobble together one decent creative team out of the four of them. Batman too. ...
www.bkv.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=3048& … 17d7b5ba41 – 59k – Supplemental Result – Cached – Similar pages
Open Office and Thunderbird Not Ready for Consumer UseYou can hobble together a way to get it interface with your IPod, but doesn’t work with LinkedIn, my Motorola Razr Phone or any other address book import …
www.wolf-howl.com/tools/open-office-and … sumer-use/ – Similar pages
Last edited by jorkel (2007-02-03 07:48:31)
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Wow, I never even thought of the reverse eggcorn! Great finds on that one.
And I think you’re right about the “feel” of cobble as “a hard road” (to hoe!).
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I found more examples by using a google search on
“cobbled by”
http://www.clockwork.net/work/portfolio/
“The website, however, was cobbled by some critical usability hurdles within the restrictions of a pre-existing corporate CMS.”
http://www.columbusalive.com/blogs/blog … utiful.php
“The first feature of writer-director Christopher Zalla, Padre Nuestro was cobbled by several beginner’s mistakes, especially a frustrating, badly handled ending.”
http://www.smartmobs.com/archive/2006/1 … rt….html
“Rob McEwen, the Goldcorp, Inc. CEO, former investment banker, and gold mining newbie, who used open source tactics and an online competition to breathe new life into a struggling business cobbled by the rules of an old-fashioned industry. ”
http://www.swans.com/library/art11/cmarow19.html
“My main function in this venture was discussing with Peter the intellectual nuances of Shakespeare’s play; why Edgar, brutally cobbled by his nefarious brother Edmund, decides to pretend to be a half-naked, maniac roaming the countryside;”
http://www.bosslady.ca/2006/12/
“Certainly, one story we hear again and again is the frustrated employee who sets out on her own, experienced in her field but cobbled by a useless boss or dysfunctional workplace. ”
http://www.ruralwomyn.net/reveille_rural_women.html
“Nor is it just victims who are cobbled by rural isolation.”
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