Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2018-04-11
I thought I had posted on this before, but a search of the ADS-L archives and of the Eggcorn Database turned up nothing.
A columbarium is a dove-cote or pigeon house but also means an underground tomb with niches for cineraria or the niches themselves. The word gets 592k raw googits. Mortuaries have been building what might be called columned patios or memorial gardens that they call a “columnbarium,” sometimes containing niches for cineraria. “Columnbarium” gets 1360 raw googits, Woodlawn Cemetery has the following description that uses both spellings:
Columbariums. A Columnbarium is a building or structure where niche space may be selected. Like all Woodlawn mausoleums, our Columbariums are constructed of granite, glass, marble and bronze.
The term is also used for a head stone with columns, and in at least one case the word is written “column barium” making the sense of the reanalysis clear even though there is no meaning for “barium,” certainly not the element.
Perhaps an eggcorn.
Herb
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The link you are looking for is here, Herb: http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … p?pid=8963
I’m glad you brought this one up again. I let it go by without comment the first time. I think it is a credible eggcorn. It is found in some serious sources.
A common misspelling for “columbarium” is “columborium,” with an “o” in place of the “a.” I don’t see it as an eggcorn, but the misspelling may be motivated by familiarity with the TV detective Columbo.
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
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