Eggcorn Forum

Discussions about eggcorns and related topics

You are not logged in.

Announcement

Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to if you wish to register.

The forum administrator reserves the right to request users to plausibly demonstrate that they are real people with an interest in the topic of eggcorns. Otherwise they may be removed with no further justification. Likewise, accounts that have not been used for posting may be removed.

Thanks for your understanding.

Chris -- 2018-04-11

#1 2007-05-15 11:00:35

Techwreck
Member
Registered: 2007-05-10
Posts: 17

pine comb for pine cone

Although patschwieterman has previously posted “honey cone” for honeycomb, I haven’t found a posting for “pine comb” as a replacement for pine cone. I think the imagery supporting the substitution of comb for cone is fairly clear – the scales on the pine cone seem to provide the impetus to call it a “comb” because of their arrangement and their general similarity to the teeth in a comb. “Pine cone” gets 7.52K hits, while “pine comb” gets 1.7K hits.

I might have had the pine comb come in from a different angle, ... (well maybe pine comb more central?) but the photo seems to be too great to be a warning …www.deviantart.com/deviation/19162177/

Will a pine comb grow into a tree if u just plant it? i have a bunch of pine combs from my vacation at south dakota and want to grow the trees they came from.need advice on what to do to get them to …answers.yahoo.com/question/index?

Then, from her pocket she took a pine comb and a shovel. ... Then she took the pine comb from her mother’s hand and placed it gently in the ground. ...authorandrea.blogspot.com/ – 85k

Offline

 

#2 2007-05-15 11:53:22

jorkel
Eggcornista
Registered: 2006-08-08
Posts: 1456

Re: pine comb for pine cone

Nicely done! Kids almost always have experience with a comb before they encounter a pine cone, and you clearly spell out the physical similarities.

I’m just surprised that you found this eggcorn right under our noses! Kudos!

Last edited by jorkel (2007-05-15 16:14:48)

Offline

 

#3 2007-05-15 20:41:22

tannerpittman
Member
Registered: 2007-03-28
Posts: 28

Re: pine comb for pine cone

Yeah – good one. I actually remember thinking that the “fir cones” in Poohsticks were called “fir combs” when I was a boy. Because I only knew about pinecones, not fir cones, as the denizens of the 100-acre woods called them.

Even today, every time I’ve got a hankerin to play me some Poohsticks, it’s combs that come to mind.

And that’s all, of course, b/c I never get around to playing Poohsticks.

Offline

 

#4 2007-09-25 11:48:24

TootsNYC
Eggcornista
Registered: 2007-06-19
Posts: 263

Re: pine comb for pine cone

Looking through photos last night searching for a baby picture of the oldest (for the school yearbook), I found a picture of her at age 2, trying to comb her hair w/ a “pine comb.”

Offline

 

#5 2014-07-03 12:53:55

kem
Eggcornista
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 2851

Re: pine comb for pine cone

Arnold Zwicky recorded pinecomb << pinecone in an early Language Log post. He says that it was noted by Diane Rainaud in the STUMPERS-L listserv.


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

Offline

 

#6 2014-07-04 16:11:45

Dixon Wragg
Eggcornista
From: Cotati, California
Registered: 2008-07-04
Posts: 1375

Re: pine comb for pine cone

Techwreck, thanks for bringing back old memories of when I (and, I think, all the other kids I knew) used the term “pine comb”. I’d forgotten about that.

Offline

 

Board footer

Powered by PunBB
PunBB is © 2002–2005 Rickard Andersson
Individual posters retain the copyright to their posts.

RSS feeds: active topicsall new posts