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Chris -- 2025-05-10

#1 2008-01-24 16:36:41

curtisg
Member
From: Orange County, CA
Registered: 2008-01-21
Posts: 7

"cram packed" for "jam packed"

Spotted in an Amazon.com review:

In the interest of full disclosure, I have known both the subject of this book, and the author of this book, for many years. Having admitted to that, and at the risk of being labeled a shill, this is one terrific volume, cram-packed with photos and conceptual art, and an abundance of text that far surpasses standard coffee-table-book fare.

http://tinyurl.com/2kc5cx

Wow: 58,500 Google hits.

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#2 2008-01-24 18:32:13

patschwieterman
Administrator
From: California
Registered: 2005-10-25
Posts: 1680

Re: "cram packed" for "jam packed"

I personally find this one interesting because I think “cram-packed” and “jam-packed” are both part of my own lexicon. But I don’t believe this is an eggcorn because new imagery isn’t being brought to the word. “To jam” and “to cram” are more or less synonyms, and “jam-full” and “cram-full” are also essentially synonymous. This reshaping basically extends parallels that are already well established. “Cram-packed” is not standard as far as the OED and MW are concerned, but the phrase just exchanges one synonym for another without altering significantly the mental image that’s conjured up.

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