Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
jorkel wrote:
I would break item D out into two separate thoughts (somehow).
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First,
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. The eggcorn introduces a unique set of imagery,
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and second
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. The eggcorn applies in the context of the original.
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I think we have to be careful to not connect the eggcorn too closely to the meaning of the original. We should tiptoe around the issue by using the word “contextâ€. I make the distinction because the utterer is only aware of the context in which the original is used, but may never understand the true meaning of the original.
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Remark added after posting the above:
I just noticed that “context†is mentioned in item B.
Perhaps item D just needs a little more wordsmithing.
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Last edited by jorkel (Today 11:00:58)
Last edited by DavidTuggy (2008-06-27 18:21:43)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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For reference, D. reads
Perhaps most importantly, the eggcorn should introduce a new set of imagery that seems to refer on some level to the meaning of the original word.
I think I see where you’re coming from, jorkel.
It seems right that, as you say, context is key when talking about the meaning match of the original and the eggcorn. Indeed, by definition, the eggcorn is a departure from the compositional meaning of the original, so we not only don’t want to, we can’t demand identity of meaning. So I think criterion B. gets that right. (A-D are all Pat’s wording, not mine, fwtw.)
Context is key precisely because that’s what we figure meanings out from in the first place. If two meanings always work in each other’s place, that’s good enough to communicate with. It’s always fun when you can get some context where they don’t work and you suddenly realize you’ve been miscommunicating for a while.
I think part of the problem may be in the word “refer” in criterion D. I’d rather it said “connects in interesting and/or reasonable ways to” or “can be seen as contributing on some level to something like” the original meaning. “Refer to” too often means “designate”, and that doesn’t work here.
Last edited by DavidTuggy (2008-06-27 18:22:58)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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Another copied comment: from patschweiterman
JOrkel wrote
I think we have to be careful to not connect the eggcorn too closely to the meaning of the original.
What confusions might the use of the word “meaning†introduce? This isn’t at all clear to me. True, the people committing the eggcorns probably don’t know the original word—or they wouldn’t be eggcorning. But it only makes sense to me to try and define the term “eggcorn†from the perspective of the person comparing a reshaping to its original—and not from the perspective of the eggcorner. Also, both “context†and “apply†seem to me too vague and general. I don’t think attempting to avoid the word “meaning†when defining “eggcorn†is a good idea.
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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As we break the various criteria out into separate threads, it might be useful to keep a list of inter-links posted in the very first post in each thread. Whoever writes that first post could add new links as they show up. I’m already getting whiplash just switching between the two threads we’ve got going now—since a good deal of the two is currently shared material, it’s easy to get lost.
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