Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
I just heard this one on the radio. The announcer said “Mozart’s genius was in full flow.” Does this qualify?
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Welcome to the Eggcorn website cognomen. Your example of the use of “in full flow” could indeed be a situation where “in full flower” might have worked better—possibly qualifying it as an eggcorn. But, let’s work through some details…
I get 218,000 Google hits for “in full flower,” so it may truly be an idiomatic usage. I can’t seem to find any dictionaries which list it explicitly as an idiom, but the construction does appear in examples of a particular usage of “flower.” Switching gears… I get 201,000 Google hits for “in full flow,” and at least one source describes it as a British/Australian idiom meaning “happening fast and with energy.” Now, the question is whether this latter idiom was intended when the utterer said “Mozart’s genius was in full flow.” It does seem that the former idiom works a little bit better to describe the mastery of Mozart’s work, but the latter might be a reference to Mozart’s prolific nature. So, I’m torn.
Well, I thought I might be able to draw a definitive conclusion by talking it through this far, but there’s something more here that I just can’t put my finger on. Perhaps someone else could add whatever point I’m missing.
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Hello, Jorkel. Thanks for your response. I’ve been mulling it over and I agree with you that there is something odd about this one. All of the others I’ve looked at seem to be more closely sounding (homophonous?) to the intended word or expression. Flow actually lops off a syllable from flower. Therefore, if the utterer were truly aiming for the expression “in full flower” then I would have to guess that she’d be more aware of the possiblity that that she had missed her mark; at least, than many of the speakers of the other examples I see in the forum. This one seems more brazen, as if she’s telling us “I know this might not be right, but I like it anyway, so here it is.”
What do you think?
Last edited by cognomen (2007-07-21 20:09:35)
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Actually, I’m not too concerned about the loss of a syllable. Eggcorns have taken place by many different routes… Some are genuine homophones; some are near homophones; some may lose or even pick up a syllable; etc. The frame of mind of the utterer is often more focussed on the sense conveyed by the imagery to even stop and think about the whether an alternate expression is the correct one.
I’m more puzzled by the fact that there are two idiomatic phrases at play here, so either one of them might have been intended. The main thing that might work in favor of an eggcorn is the slight awkwardness of the particular usage. (In more extreme cases, we might be tipped off when, say, a noun turns into verb—or something similar). Sometimes these things are resolved by looking at the context of the usage within a whole conversation and noting that something is amiss with the imagery. I don’t know if we have enough to go on.
Cognomen writes…
This one seems more brazen, as if she’s telling us “I know this might not be right, but I like it anyway, so here it is.â€
What do you think?
Perhaps not so much brazen as awkward. Sometimes people who speak on the radio blurt something out and know something is amiss, but can’t correct it in short order, so they let it stand.
Last edited by jorkel (2007-07-21 21:52:55)
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If his genius was in full flower I would hear that to mean at its peak, and not able to get any better
In full flow would imply to me that his genius was causing great music to flow from him, and have no undertone of an end in sight. (a river in full flow will not run out as a bathtub would)
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Build a man a fire and he will be warm for a day; set a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life – Terry Pratchett
http://blog.meteorit.co.uk
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Hello AdamVero,
I agree. The meanings are different. I see this as evidence that the usage is a genuine eggcorn. Can you imagine a time when Mozart’s genius was not “in full flow”? On the other hand, it might have taken even Mozart some time for him to hone his craft enough to allow his genius to bloom. I think that is what the radio announcer meant.
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