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Chris -- 2018-04-11

#1 2007-09-29 14:52:50

Peter Forster
Eggcornista
From: UK
Registered: 2006-09-06
Posts: 1258

'parafinalia/paraffinalia' for 'paraphernalia'

‘Paraphernalia’ was originally a woman’s dowry, reduced by usage to ‘odds and ends’. These days ‘paraphernalia’ tends mainly to be teamed with the word ‘drug’, the miscellaneous assortment of equipment necessary to maintain a drug habit being termed ‘drug paraphernalia’. ‘Paraffin’ is a term coined around 1830 by Karl von Reichenbach for a product known by AmEnglish speakers as ‘kerosene’. Paraffin was, and sometimes still is, commonly used for heating purposes in Britain; its combustible nature and the health and safety dangers inherent in its use may, if it isn’t just a spelling mistake, have contributed to an eggcornish alternative imagery…

mmm, looks suspiciously like drug paraffinalia. Back to top. View user’s profile Send private message. Display posts from previous: ...
www.sooeys.com/viewtopic.php?p=62744&si … e485458f44 – 26k – Cached

So anyway the police found the pipe, arrested me for drug parafinalia and put me in a separate police car by myself. The police continued to search the …
forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=179727 – 74k – Cached

The county will have a very difficult time proving he even possessed parafinalia let alone marijuana. wilco just wants publicity and money. ...
www.statesman.com/.../austin/longhorns/ … harge.html – 81k – Cached

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#2 2007-10-03 03:07:36

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

Re: 'parafinalia/paraffinalia' for 'paraphernalia'

Although it looks like eye dialect, it might actually be an eggcorn. “Parafin” refers to a series of organic chemicals which include waxes and liquid hydrocarbons. Perhaps some of the utterers vaguely connect paraphernalia with the distillation equipment used to separate parafins into components like the octane which comprises the majority of gasoline (petrol). ...Equipment they might call “parafin-alia.”

Last edited by jorkel (2007-10-03 03:11:12)

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