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
Another eggcorn sent in by one of Jan Freeman’s readers: “blood clogs†for “blood clots.†(See http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas … n_ove.html for the report of the eggcorn, http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?id=3482 for my background on Freeman’s eggcorn invitation.)
“Blood clog†provides amiable company for one of last year’s best eggcorns, backclog (reported by Pat at http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?id=2867)
Web page discussing anabolic steroids: “I DID have a blod clog in my lower leg 2 years ago, followed by a blood clog in my upper right arm 6 moths later. †(http://tinyurl.com/d4528k)
Personal history page: “Awhile ago he went through surgery due to a blood clog †(http://www.davidhchiem.com/Other%20Pages/life.htm)
Blog entry journaling an illness: “the surgeon was pretty positive about getting the tumor out completely but also talked about possible risks including significant blood loss due to vein damage, positive margin on the artery, developing blood clog afterward, wound not closing due to radiation damage of the skin, etc.†(http://lcj1.org/WordPress/?p=17)
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
Offline
I certainly don’t doubt the veracity of these examples or the sincerity of the writers, but I have a hard time understanding how anyone whose doctor told him/her, “You have a blood clot,” could draw “clog” from “clot.” Backlog and backclog are at at least homophones; but clog to clot? It would be like someone calling a dog a dot, a log a lot, a bog a bot, or a fog a fot. :-)
That being said, “clog” makes complete sense, and “blood clog” seems very eggcornish. But I’m still puzzled how anyone could mishear clog for clot.
Last edited by JonW719 (2009-02-11 16:44:36)
Feeling quite combobulated.
Offline
Your post, Jon, sent me looking for “blood clod,” which would be phonetically closer to “clot” than “clog” is. At least a hundred unique examples of “blod clod” out there. One sample:
Letter to the editor in Caribbean net newspaper: “Could it also be that the sudden and unexplained diagnosis of blood clod in both lungs of Wayne be as a direct result of prolonged exposure to the same unhealthy conditions that all the others were and are exposed to?” (http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/bermuda … gory_id=28)
Another eggcorn. A coagulated mass of blood is a clod of cells.
The t to g shift in clot/clog is feasible, I think. It’s a move from a dental plosive to a velar. We have at least one example of a transition across this gap in the eggcorn database: dander to gander.
Last edited by kem (2009-02-12 11:24:38)
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
Offline
Not everyone agrees with me, but I’ve argued before that unvoiced stops—p/t/k—substitute for each other more readily than do voiced stops—b/d/g, especially at the end of a word/syllable. And voiced stops substitute for each other more readily than do unvoiced ones. I’ve been convinced for years that that tendency holds, but there are plenty of exceptions.
Offline
If Jon’s doctor spoke with a glottal stop the change would be much less dramatic. More difficult to understand (unless it’s a typo) is clogged for clotted cream; not only is there a possible gloggal stop but also an extra syllable:
Among the most common dishes served at mid-afternoon tea are finger-foods like crumpets with jam and clogged cream, dainty watercress sandwiches and scones …
e-library.net/articles/Cooking/British-Cuisine.htm – 46k – Cached
Now if only there was a way to get the clogged cream packaged nicely inside the scone as well! Another factor that makes scone recipes different then …
www.low-fat-foods.info/Cheese/Scones/Scones_recipes/ – 15k – Cached
Offline
Without the blood-y context (or rather with a different one):
Putting a ban or more restrictions on guns is like taking medicine for a clod, it might relieve the symptoms but doesn’t cure it.
At least I think they must have had clot in mind. If not, what else?
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
Offline
How about a cold? Simple typo
“I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin
Offline
Duh! You’re right, that’s probably it. (See, my cold was really the flu, and it’s no wonder my brain has a clod in it. Or some such excuse.)
Last edited by DavidTuggy (2018-02-24 20:41:39)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
Offline
Peter Forster wrote:
More difficult to understand (unless it’s a typo) is clogged for clotted cream; not only is there a possible gloggal stop but also an extra syllable:
JonW719 wrote:
...I have a hard time understanding how anyone whose doctor told him/her, “You have a blood clot,” could draw “clog” from “clot.” Backlog and backclog are at at least homophones; but clog to clot?
Both of these substitutions might make sense, in some instances at least, if we assume eyecorns rather than earcorns.
Offline
Clots and clods typically clog up the works. Given such close meanings, I don’t think the sounds need to be so easily mistaken for each other that a person wouldn’t know the difference. Poor memory can account for a lot. (E.g. “I remember the doctor used a word like clog or clot or something, and clog works fine. I’ll go with that.â€)
.
Just thought of the possibility of clot-hopping. Sure enough it exists, though there are few hits, and doubtful ones.
They make rates of wages, elaborately calculating the minimum of food that will keep together the soul and body of a clothopper. They breed game in profusion for their own amusement, and having thus tempted a poor man to knock down a hare for his pot, they send him to the treadmill, or the Antipodes,
harvest time; topping turnips [another male joins]; general conversation – reference to father clipping sheep, clot hopping to break up lumps of soil after ploughing; ...
Clog hopping and clog hoppers are apparently real “thingsâ€; I gather you wear, or, alternatively turn into, the latter when you indulge in the former.
ALS, GO CLOG HOPPING See Wards leather clogs first! Wood sole is comfort contoured; rubber undersole
She served as vice-president in her neighborhood, danced with The Village Clog Hoppers and chaired the Hospice Golf Tournament.
Ariat Womens Brown Clog Hoppers Size 6.5 M | eBay
https://www.ebay.com › ... › Women’s Shoes › Flats & Oxfords ¶ These are timeless. Still in great condition except for some scuffing on the toe and light heel wear. | eBay!
Clogs, of course, much like clodhoppers in one meaning of that word, are a kind of clumsy footwear.
Last edited by DavidTuggy (2018-03-03 21:50:53)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
Offline
The Village Clog Hoppers is definitely a pun. Clogging is an old and still popular dance form, similar to tap dancing. It isn’t surprising for a clogging club to call themselves the Clog Hoppers.
“I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin
Offline