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
This is a corruption of the term “Parthian shot”. The Parthians were famous for their archery from horseback and known to fire quite accurately backwards while in retreat. Very dangerous!
Offline
This one was discussed here in the forum:
“Parting shot” by jimshlif Contribute! 2 2007-06-05 21:07:29 by patschwieterman
To relocate it, you can click on “Search” in the menu above and enter the word “parthian” in the search window.
Offline
I argued that since the earliest citation for “parting shot” beats the earliest for “Parthian shot” by a few years, we should consider the possibility that “Parthian shot” is itself a “reverse eggcorn.” I’ve since discovered that a columnist at the Guardian posted on this about a year before I did; here’s the link: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/culturevult … _shot.html
Offline