Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
I’m no expert on fish, or anything else for that matter, but I do know carp are supposed to be the most intelligent of the fish family, are notoriously difficult to fool into taking the angler’s bait, yet can be trained to accept food from the fingers of a non-angling owner. I’ve seen a few and in many respects they fit a quick definition of ‘coy’: “affectedly modest or shy especially in a playful or provocative way”...
Several long-lived coy carp surfaced to pout their exaggerated lips, while upside-down ‘boatmen’ scurried to safety. This place is charming – it’s not too …
Bhatt crossed albino common carp (grey, hardy and a food fish) and coy carp ( ornamental and delicate) to get a fish that is big and hardy and also beautiful …
... the tropical pond and only after a compulsory five minutes of mutual staring between coy carp and not-so-coy children was over could the lesson proceed. ...
The decoration style of the plate dates from the 1880’s-90’s and looks to me to be Japanese although the Chinese also had a fondness for coy carp. ...
Pot-bellied Coy carp follow the lakes row-boats in hope of a few flakes of bread . The park has various amusements such as Dodg’em cars, Pirate Ship and …
I just got back and all the coy carp seem to be swimming up to say welcome home. ... coy carp.jpg. Daisy becoming a pretty fine drummer – into rock and …
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Semantic reshaping is obvious in one of the examples (coy carp and not-so-coy children) – precisely the reshaping that Peter describes. The other cases, though, might simply be demi-eggcorns (pails). This looks like an example of multiple inventions of the same form via different routes.
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And now, ten years later, the cartoon: http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2017/02/16
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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