Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
You are not logged in.
Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to
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
Hi, I am new to this board and am not sure if this quite fits the category, but here goes anyway.
I haave noted the use of “barter” in place of “bargain” where barter refers to a direct exchange of goods or services (without using money) and bargain refers to negotiating down a price.
I have see this most in travel materials, as in, “The flea market in Kingston is great for straw hats and bootleg CDs, but make sure to barter with vendor – they would insulted if you offer more than half what they are asking.”
Offline
IMy entry has been read a bit but no comments. Have I done somethign wrong? In any case, I thought I’d surf the net a bit and find an actual example of the type I identified:
Here is an example from www.cruisereviews.com/RadissonSevenSeas … riner8.htm – A site that, not surprisingly, reviews cruises:
“•If you are a shopper and have honed up on your bartering skills, then the Central Market is a great place to get all your typical Mexican crafts and souvenirs.”
I don’t think that the author was suggesting that you exchange your ship-provided beach towel for an onyx chess set, but rather that you use your “bartering” nee bargainaing skills to get more attractive pricing on stuff you don’t need.
Offline
The only reason I registered was to mention this horror ! Bartering with market traders, indeed. I scream when I hear it ! Thanks Howard for getting there first !
Offline
I used to agree with you that this was being misused for bargaining rather than a direct goods exchange, but when I looked it up I found that this was a valid use. It seems it fell towards the more specific meaning of agreeing how much goods to exchange, before falling back towards the original. I’ll try to find a citation if I get a chance.
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will buy a ridiculous hat – Scott Adams (author of Dilbert)
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
Offline