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Chris -- 2018-04-11
I came across the term ‘conquers car’ on a classic car site. ‘Concours d’elegance’ refers to a meeting, competition or exhibition at which old vehicles in superb condition are judged and awarded prizes. A winning car is in unbeatable condition hence, perhaps, the eggcornish ‘conquers’.
... addition inform you automobiliste approximately how much that fto same car insurance coverage tenors would pay if your conquers vehicle was totaled. ...
lookatacademic.myvnc.com/on-line-autos-coverage1.html – 17k – Cached
3 Apr 2008 … Compared to that Corvair I looked at, this thing is in conquers condition. It has a V-8, 2bbl carb, automatic, A/C, power steering, ...
www.readablog.com/feed21973.aspx – 78k – Cached
But the buyer thought he could get much more for it once it was fully restored to “conquers condition”(?) and wouldn’t believe there is really nothing there …
www.antiquemotorcycle.org/ bboard/archive/index.php?t-8819.html – 43k – Cached
Comprehensive, each which covers interpretively the majority state of non-collision expires physical damage to your conquers car (if your aloneness …
observerchat.no-ip.info/border_ state_auto_ins_texas_policy.php – 34k – Cached
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I take the ”(?)” in the third example to be an indication that the writer cannot make sense of “conquers condition,” so that may be a demi-eggcorn (substitution of a known word for an unfamiliar near-homophone).
The first example is so badly misspelled, I suspect it is the work of a non-English speaker, perhaps “aided” by machine translation. It comes from a Q & A on “Car Insurence” [sic].
Q: My impediment car is officio old, and indisputable isn`t really Compton worth anything – do groton I require vehicle coverages on line handsomely ?
A: In purifies a case where listed you own domain an old Tyrannosaurus car which isn`t being reports flooded financed, you can establishing almost certainly reduce intuition costs on repossess your monthly premium crumbled through loosing collision agenge from your recreational car insurance maddening policy. Your skyrocketing manager could hazard tell you how orosi much. The kids insurance agent could in market addition inform you automobiliste approximately how much that fto same car insurance coverage tenors would pay if your conquers vehicle was totaled. For yound an older vehicle, colonists you may find preallocated that collision damage compare coverage would toyal pay just fills a small amount of jack money in case of haw a big car flooded crash, as not resented having it would mean youung significant money savings.
Three letters: WTF?
The fourth example redirects to a page that does not contain the word “conquers.” Since it deals with insurance, I wonder if it’s somehow related to the the “Car Insurence” page?
That leaves the second example as a probable eggcorn, plus the third as a probable demi-eggcorn.
There are 8 total Google hits for “conquers condition,” three of which refer to cars. (The three are Peter’s second and third examples, plus another version identical to his second example. The other pages are primarily for herbs that “conquer (some) condition.”) In comparison, there are approximately 1,270,000 raw hits for “concourse condition,” and nine of the first ten refer to cars. (The tenth refers to a stereo system.)
[Edit: The original (half) French “concours condition” returns approximately 234,000 raw Google hits; each of the first ten mentions cars.]
Last edited by nilep (2008-04-30 10:24:42)
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For the longest time I thought concours was pronounced like “concourse” though with an ending “z” sound (“CONcorz”). But having learned the correct pronunciation, it’s understandable that people might mix it with “conquers.” (Though, since conquers is a rather irregular spelling, I’m surprised all the posts above spelled it correctly!).
Based on Peter’s posting, I was sure I would find “conquered” [Concord] grapes too, but the only hits I found on Google were intentional puns.
I would think if people are involved with the concours d’elegance, they would know more or less how to spell it. But perhaps they are somehow not associating the actual name of the event or competition with “conquers” (as Peter suggests, they hope their car “conquers” the competition).
An intriguing entry with eggcorn potential.
Last edited by JonW719 (2008-04-30 10:32:00)
Feeling quite combobulated.
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JonW719 wrote:[...] I would think if people are involved with the concours d’elegance, they would know more or less how to spell it. [...]
I am active on quite a few car forums (older Mercedes-Benz) where the orthography is, generally, far superior to that found on, e.g. Ford forums (socio-educational commentary there?).
However, one item that is frequently misspelled is “concours”; more often than not it is mis-written as “concourse” – although the “d’elegance” part is usually right.
The other misspelling of “concours” is “concour” – which at least appears to be an attempt to acknowledge the term’s French origins.
Gordon Balfour Haynes, professional verbivore, Australia
Dictionaries are like watches: the worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go quite true. Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784)
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