Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
As a newbie, not at all sure about this, but it was so plausible that when I first saw this:
“Registration sounds good on paper, but as with many things here in Japan it is just a rouge to control the population”Maybe this is just a mis-hearing. . .
Google for ‘just a rouge’ to find the above, as well as
“The box is just a rouge to get ane excuse to hit you for calling her fat!”I’ll defer to the experts here on whether this deserves an entry or not.
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Welcome to the eggcorn website hthompson.
I think rouge has the potential for being an eggcorn of ruse, but we should try to elaborate on the shift in imagery and provide examples with strong enough context to support it. (The latter is particularly important, as I elaborate below).
“Rouge” certainly creates the image of putting on a false face—in a sense—so that works in favor of an eggcorn, but I’m not convinced that is enough: The only thing that bothers me is the possibility that people who say “rouge” literally mean “ruse” not realizing they have chosen the wrong word. That, by definition, would be a malapropism.
But having said that, I think rouge could still be an eggcorn for some utterers …but the burden is on the eggcorn hunter to provide context-laden examples that remove all doubt. So, for example, if we could find a usage like “putting on a rouge,” then that might come closer to providing the imagery sought.
Last edited by jorkel (2008-03-10 09:50:00)
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