Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
Does this fit the bill? A GARTER SNAKE is usually uncovered in a garden, or by a gardener, and I’ve heard countless people refer to them as, alternately, “garden snakes” or “gardener’s snakes.” A perfect eggcorn! Here’s citation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garter_snake
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Welcome to the forum, martinslag. Our member Jorkel posted on garter/garden/guarder snakes some time ago here: http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?id=1017 But he didn’t list the interesting variant “gardener snake,” which I like a lot. It’s getting about 2000 raw Google hits right now, which is pretty respectable.
I found one citation where the writer argued vehemently that “gardener snake” was the correct form. (This is the kind of thing the Language Log folks and others label an “incorrection.”):
And, by the way, for all you snake admirers, it is called a “Gardener Snake” not a freakin’ Garden Snake. If you’re (not your) gonna pretend to protect a species at the very least LEARN ITS FREAKIN’ NAME.
http://blogs.herald.com/dave_barrys_blo … undee.html
If you follow the link, you’ll see that the angry word-rager got his comeuppance.
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Just thought I’d resurrect this thread so I can share this example I saw today in a Facebook post: “The little gardener snake was chill’n up in my wooden hand made worm composter.”
Actually I remember being confused myself as a child about whether it was “gardener snake”, “garden snake” or “garter snake”.
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Actually I remember being confused myself as a child about whether it was “gardener snakeâ€, “garden snake†or “garter snakeâ€.
Yeah, I too remember all of those names being used among my childhood friends. Many online wildlife sites simply list the other names as variants for “garter snake,” and I suspect that these have got to be some of the more successful eggcorns out there; they’re clearly standard for lots and lots of people.
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