Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
You are not logged in.
Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to
The forum administrator reserves the right to request users to plausibly demonstrate that they are real people with an interest in the topic of eggcorns. Otherwise they may be removed with no further justification. Likewise, accounts that have not been used for posting may be removed.
Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
Google counts on Feb 2, 2009
6550 hyperdermic
320,000 hypodermic
Analysis by Joe Krozel
The prefix hypo- means beneath, so a hypodermic needle is one which is designed to deliver medication below the skin. It’s quite likely that some individuals are not familiar with this prefix, and it also quite likely that most individuals have come across the prefix hyper- ...meaning above, beyond, SUPER. I suspect the substitution is usually made with little thought to the meaning, but I wonder if there are a number of instances in which a person who is familiar enough with the hyper- prefix rationalizes that a “hyperdermic” needle is simply a super-sized needle. (Not one of those tiny, wimpy, pinpricking needles used in other instances). So, in this sense, an eggcorn might exist.
Example
Highland Innovation Centre
There is widespread acceptance that the traditional transdermal drug delivery method of using a syringe and a hyperdermic needle is far from ideal.
www.highland-innovation.com/phonoject.htm · Cached page
Offline
Almost a half million ghostly ghits for “hyperdermic needle.” Hard to believe that some of the writers aren’t importing “hyper-” associations into the phrase.
About 1 percent of the these ghits are preceded by an adjective of size meaning “large” (“large/huge/big hyperdermic needle”). Of course, I suppose one could argue that adding an adjective for size means that “hyperdermic” carries no implication
of size. But redundancy is only a negative to book editors and to contestants on BBC’s Just a Minute. The rest of the
world prefers saying the same thing again.
Last edited by kem (2009-02-02 23:57:49)
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
Offline