Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
Is this an acorn?
Often (watching sports) I hear reporters mention how an athlete has overcome much adversity in their life… and I often wondered if someone would ever slip and say “overcome diversity”. And then I heard it! So I googled it, and I found many examples of overcoming diversity, some as puns, some tongue in cheek, others clearly clueless.
So is this an acorn, or just a good laugh?
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You are right, Dev, the slip is widespread-at least a hundred independent web pages employ “overcome diversity” in contexts where “overcoming adversity” should have been used.
The issue of eggcornicity is more complex. Is it a simple substitution mistake, or do the people who use it borrow something from the denotations and connotations of “diversity” to justify the revised expression?
The word “diversity” does sometimes occur in negative contexts. We face the challenges of cultural diversity, social diversity, political diversity. An enemy sows the “seeds of diversity” among friends. Perhaps these negative senses of diversity suggest to speakers that diversity is an obstacle to overcome.
Last edited by kem (2008-04-03 15:39:00)
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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Sounds like a malapropism rather than an eggcorn. We posted a little before about how people sometimes choose the wrong prefix (or the wrong meaning for a prefix)—and it leads to a word that differs from a more conventional one. I’m less prone to calling these eggcorns.
Kem is right in pointing out how people sometimes wrongly attribute negative connotations to “diverse.” For instance, in the phrase “they expressed diverse opinions,” the word “diverse” simply means different even though some may read into it a stronger sense of dissent; an animosity. So, perhaps this is just a situation where “diversity” is simply misunderstood. Again, this leads to a malapropism.
Finally, for this to be an eggcorn, the utterer would have to understand the true meaning of “diversity” and actually intend the imagery associated with it.
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Finally, for this to be an eggcorn, the utterer would have to understand the true meaning of “diversity†and actually intend the imagery associated with it.
Would they? It’s not what the dictionary says, it’s what people think it should say. If speakers have a “different-and-bad” meaning attractor for “diversity,” then that would prime the speaker to substitute “diversity” for a similar-sounding word whose meaning was unknown.
I was just wondering how strong the “different-and-bad” attractor was for the word “diversity.” Doesn’t work for me-most of the term’s connotations are positive. Biodiversity. Diversity of options. But perhaps there are English speakers out there for whom the word “diversity” carries more negative connotations.
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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Since “diversity” in our culture usually means “includes some minorities,” then someone who is a minority might be thought to have overcome the difficulties and disadvantages that come w/ being a minority.
Not completely an eggcorn, but oh so close.
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Here’s an example of someone writing about an Alzheimer patient “facing diversity.” For whatever reason, the writer believes “diversity” has a negative meaning that is similar to “adversity.” I would classify this as a malapropism, and the original example the same way. It doesn’t matter what this writer thinks the dictionary says, there is no new imagery and it’s not an eggcorn.
In Loving Memory
A woman who faced diversity beyond imagination, yet never faltered because of her trust in God to be her guide and support! ...
www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/heven.html – 16k – Similar pages
http://www.zarcrom.com/users/alzheimers/heven.html
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