Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
brassic – 29,600 ghits
boracic – 44,600 ghits
We’re entering the realm of Cockney rhyming slang with this one: ‘boracic’ is short for ‘boracic lint’, which rhymes with ‘skint’, meaning broke, penniless. ‘Boracic’ sounds like ‘brassic’ and ‘brass’ is a slang term for money/cash so, I’m suggesting, ‘brassic’ is an eggcorn of ‘boracic’.
Neither of the counts above refer only to the usages under discussion, but a good few seem to…
(I know the ‘ic’ suffix should indicate that ‘brassic’ means wealthy as manic/euphoric/panic/heroic etc illustrate, but things in the real world aren’t always that neat.)
is the da vinci code any good? i have read the book but havent seen the film as i am completely brassic and cannot afford to buy a ticket TO the movie …
mb.sparknotes.com/mb.epl?b=2480&m=1206033&t=322213 – 42k – Cached
I’m also completely brassic- having to put lots of stuff on ebay right now. I’m gonna be selling some homemade theremin PCB’s (pre drilled too) soon. ...
electro-music.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7240 – 96k – Cached
Keith returns the dinner suit to Audrey and then confides to her that he’s broke, brassic, skint. He buries his pride and asks Rita for a job in the Kabin. ...
www.corrieblog.tv/2005/12/sneak_preview_m.html – 23k – Cached
... capital being a bit on the pricey side, you can do things on the cheap if you’re trying to watch the pennies (or a bit brassic as a Londoner might say! ...
london.placestostay.com/about_london.html – 25k – Cached
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Coming from the South East of England where Estuary English is increasingly more prevelant I have noticed this one myself a number of times.
I have always thought that ‘brassic’ is a simple verbal contraction of ‘boracic’ – which given the East End of London ryhming slang origins of ‘boracic and lint’ is very likely.
I am not sure that this is an eggcorn as I don’t think there is any fundamental misunderstanding of what the proper word is. There is a delightful coincidence though that as a result of this verbal contraction we now see it appearing in written form and that in written form we are reminded of brass and therefore of coins, money etc…
Is there a catagory of ‘accidental eggcorns’ or ‘eggcorns once removed’ into which this can slot?
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Yeah, I’d say that “brassic” has been the accepted form for many years. In fact, I’d say that people who write “boracic” instead are being pedantic or affected. cf. We write “titfer”, not “tit for”.
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I first came across ‘boracic’ in Glasgow, where all three syllables were sounded; quite how they might have spelled it I don’t know, but should they have spelled it correctly, which I don’t doubt, I suspect they would not take kindly to being described as “pedantic or affected”. Any Scots out there?
I’ve spoken to four Londoners; three thought it something to do with ‘brass’ being money but were unaware of its rhyming origin, while the fourth knew it came from ‘boracic’ but had never seen its written form, as I hadn’t until it appeared (brassic) on my screen last week as a popup from a moneylender.
I’m not sure it’s an eggcorn either, but it seemed to have eggcornish possibilities – I do like gilligan’s ‘eggcorn once removed’ as there seems to be several categories of near-eggcorn worthy of attention in their own right.
Last edited by Peter Forster (2007-05-04 11:18:11)
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Peter, I’ve been following (and enjoying) the discussion on this, and I think “brassic” is probably a genuine eggcorn for the reasons you have stated. (You and I both worry about self-deception in our eggcorn hunts, but I think you’ve made a pretty strong case). Nice discussion points from the others as well… At one point, gilligan uses the term ‘accidental eggcorn,’ but I think all eggcorns are accidental—whether you look at it from the perspective of the unknowing utterer or the perspective of words that just happen to be close together in the dictionary.
Last edited by jorkel (2007-05-04 11:47:15)
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