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
Just saw Blades of Glory and was amused by Chazz Michael Michaels’ “mind-bottling.” He even had a rationale for it, which any good eggcorn should have. ” When your mind gets trapped like in a bottle.” So I googled it and got 25,800 hits. Most of the early ones seemed to be references to the movie so I eliminated “ferrell” and “glory” and still got 21,000 hits, many of wuch seemed to be independent uses.
Offline
I like this one a lot—a really great find. And it reminds me of a post on “mind-bobbling” by CatherineR that is here: http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … p?pid=1246
As for the number of Google hits for this one, see my third post in Kem’s “sum up the courage” thread here:
http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?id=2060
Last edited by patschwieterman (2007-09-22 23:16:33)
Offline
These are all lovely. “Mind-bottling” appears to be the most common by far, but in addition to “mind-bobbling”, there’s also “mind-bubbling”...
Offline
Faldage’s mention of the movie “Blades of Glory” brings up a question that, I suppose, could use its own topic, and that is the role that the media play in making eggcorns mainstream. (The other eggcorn that may have benefited from media exposure, as reported in the forum, is “moo point,” made famous by Joey of “Friends.”) What other eggcorns may have become more widespread because of TV, radio, or movies? (I think we’ve already seen how the Internet broadcasts eggcorns, but I’m sure there are great examples out there worth repeating or mentioning.)
I think that it would be good (but possibly difficult?) to differentiate between apparently tongue-in-cheek usages (sly, knowing references to a show or movie) and sincere, unironic usage.
Last edited by JonW719 (2007-09-24 14:42:13)
Feeling quite combobulated.
Offline
Jon—I think you’re right about the media propagating certain eggcornish things. I posted on that possibility in regards to the phrase “a mere bag of shells” (as in a trifling sum of money) in a post here:
http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … p?pid=1154 (You have to scroll all the way to the end of the thread.) In this case, “a mere bag of shells” was used as a malapropism for “a mere bagatelle” in a famous episode of the TV show The Honeymooners. Some of the uses of the phrase on the Internet look like knowing puns, but some of them seem quite innocent. I think the phrase may have taken on a life of its own. Even if that’s true, however, it may not qualify as an eggcorn since the phonological difference between the two terms just seems too great.
We don’t yet have a name for intentional puns that later get spread by unwitting souls who use them sincerely. “Old Timer’s Disease” (which actually has a Database entry) may be another example of a pun that went native.
Last edited by patschwieterman (2007-09-26 23:30:49)
Offline
JonW719 writes…
I think that it would be good (but possibly difficult?) to differentiate between apparently tongue-in-cheek usages (sly, knowing references to a show or movie) and sincere, unironic usage.
This has been at the center of many of our debates… determining whether a usage is intentional or unintentional. I try to use context, but it isn’t always so clear.
Offline
Just found “mind bottling” in a student essay: “All of my past experiences have evolved me in to becoming this mind bottling poet I am today.”
I haven’t seen any of her poetry yet, but I suspect I will. I do wonder if it will bobble or bottle my mind. :-)
Offline