Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
Sometimes client meetings yield much more than what’s offered on the agenda. Two phrases – which might be eggcorns – came out of one today.
In reference to a coworker’s eagerness to begin a project, one woman said she was “racing at the bit.” Substituting “racing” for “champing” indeed brings to mind an eager horse, the original phrase being misunderstood and therefore changed by a young woman who probably has no idea what a bit is or what it means to champ.
An aspect of this project was deemed potentially difficult since getting buy-in from higher-ups would be “like pulling hen’s teeth.”
I find it fascinating that these old sayings are being re-worded out of ignorance of the originals – due to demographic migration from the farm with all its horses and hens? ;-) And yet the new phrases are perfectly understandable and descriptive.
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These two examples look to me like what we classify as “idiom blends.” If you do a Google search for “idiom blend,” you’ll find lots of examples. If you don’t find the examples, you are barking up the wrong alley.
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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