might » my

Chiefly in:   my as well

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • “If i can’t get this lever to work I my as well trash my whole mod. and crawl inside of a bottle.” (link)
  • “you my as well set yourself up with a cathador then have to run to port-o-johns every 10 minutes…” (link)
  • “I figure if I haven’t broken that habit now at the age of 22, I my as well come to peace with it and push ahead!” (link)

This one belongs with mine as and minus as reinterpretations of the first part of the idiom might as well. They probably all originated in mishearings and depend on some listeners’ unsureness about the identity of the first part of the idiom. They aren’t great examples of eggcorns, because they don’t (as Ben Zimmer observed to me about the nasal versions) make “sense” like the classic eggcorns do.

| Comments Off link | entered by Arnold Zwicky, 2007/09/15 |

might » mine

Chiefly in:   mine as well

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • “well i guess i mine as well give up as this is looking hopeless.” (link)
  • “you mine as well face it, you’re addicted to us.” (link)

See also minus well.

| Comments Off link | entered by Ben Zimmer, 2005/03/10 |

might as » minus

Chiefly in:   minus well

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • Oh well I guess since I invested two years into school already I minus well finish my last two years and earn my BSN and if I don’t like it I can always change. (Allnurses forum, May 19, 2001)
  • I’ve decided that an alarm is necessary for my truck, plus I want remote start so I minus well get it all at once. (Real Car Audio forum, Aug. 13, 2003)
  • With all due respect, any team that doesn’t bring their A game to the national championship minus well forfeit. (College Football News forum, Nov. 13, 2003)

Analyzed or reported by:

See also mine as well.

| 1 comment | link | entered by Ben Zimmer, 2005/02/19 |
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