Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
The general slang meaning of “rap” is “blame” or “criticism”, so the literal meaning of “bum rap” isn’t confined to “wrong conviction”.
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Sounds like you on to something here. Some examples where “rep” seems synonymouse with “reputation”:
So I guess my question is, why do adverbs get such a bum rep? Aren’t they all right sometimes? Post Mon Aug 16, 2004 8:17 pm, View user’s profile Send …
bbs.chrismoore.com/viewtopic.php?p=8565&sid=2e8e06c00235e968e2c243cc66c50abb – 50k – Supplemental Result – Cached – Similar pages
I’m not getting a dig at the scene, just pointing out it gets a bum rep because of these idiots. Putting that aside, can you recommend any club nights to …
www.altnation.com/forums/electronica-da … error.html – 62k – Supplemental Result – Cached – Similar pages
Most of that state has got a bum rep. It’s actually a pretty nice place. Lookin’ f’wd to Petit Jean!) ‘53 B-model N146YS SN:25713 …
www.cessna170.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php? … d=d6a6d… – 78k – Supplemental Result
The similarity between “rap” meaning “blame” or “criticism”, and “rep” meaning “reputation”, I think makes the case of an eggcorn stronger. I don’t believe the understanding of “rap” as slang is as commonplace as the understanding of the word “reputation”. In this context “rap” could easily be misunderstood to have been uttered “rep”- a classic method of eggcorn creation.
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I think this eggcorn was inevitable the minute street-talking people started using “rep” as shorthand for “reputation.” It was only a matter of time before the adjective “bum” joined up with it …and was subliminally reinforced by the already-existing “bum rap” construction. So, that’s my take on the sequence of things.
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How do we know they don’t mean “panhandler’s agent”? If so, I guess it’s a double-yolked eggcorn!
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Might “a bum (=undeservedly bad) representation†fit in there somewhere too?
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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