Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2025-05-10
Hi,
I just spotted this one today in a nappy forum:
“I havent had much of a chance to find out the knitty gritty of the site yet,”
and it pinged my eggcornometer. A bit of googling, followed by some exclusion of sites with knitting puns, showed some more examples. Here are a few:
“They are an online tutoring site that really can get down to the knitty gritty of what your child needs.”
http://aha.typepad.com/weblogs_blog/200 … e_hom.html
[cleaning a bathroom]”when I finally get down to the knitty-gritty of the matter, it’s rarely as horrible as I imagine.”
http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/archive/index … 54233.html
“Anyways, I really have to get down to the knitty gritty and study my ass off..”
http://www.blogigo.co.uk/ilovetchocky/200605
There has been quite a skirmish over the origin of the phrase “nitty-gritty” in the past, complete with false etymologies and politicoracial debate. Suffice it to say that the origin is not quite clear. So it is not too surprising that it’s being reanalysed to a more familiar word, particularly when the term is being used about hard, constant, repetitive work that requires attention to detail – knitting fits the bill just fine.
Lara
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