Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2025-05-10
Don’t get too excited about this one … only 6 Google hits. But, I’m posting it because I’m really surprised that the mistake isn’t made more often. (Besides, I personally like it.)
A “pall” is a coffin (or heavy cloth draped over a coffin). It certainly seems to be a word less well known than “pawn,” and the verbal alteration in getting from “pall” to “pawn” is not that great. This would bode well for a potential eggcorn. And as for context… a silent, respectful person positioned at one of several positions around a square coffin might evoke the imagery of a pawn (on a chessboard). [Perhaps even a subliminal linguistic influence from “pawn broker.”] Whence, “pawn bearer.”
Example:
RIP buddy – Asylum ForumsHis mom asked me to be his pawn bearer and I’m more than honored. But I’ll miss that guy. He wasn’t exactly the perfect gentelman,In fact,most people find …
www.asylumnation.com/asylum/_r/showthre … index.html – 145k – Supplemental Result – Cached – Similar pages
Last edited by jorkel (2007-03-26 11:30:19)
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