butt » but

Chiefly in:   but(-)kicking , kick but , but naked

Classification: English – questionable

Spotted in the wild:

  • If I pay a but kicking price tag for a computer, I expect a but kicking performance from it. (mac-forums.com, July 23, 2004)
  • Starring Wesley Snipes, Jessica Biel, Ryan Reynolds, and a but-kicking, gun-toting KRIS PISSED-OFFERSON! (link)
  • And yes, I had a kick-but chemistry set in third grade and a thriving business in middle/high school making stink bombs, smoke bombs, and pyrotechnics. (link)
  • As far as players go, iPod kicks but, and the people have decided they want the best. (macdailynews.com, comment, Feb 28, 2005)
  • I like the kind of girl that is but naked and has her legs spread (newgrounds.com, Dec 12, 2004)
  • She was but naked on top of me with me still inside her and no cover at all!!! (link)

Marked “questionable” because potentially the product of a simple typo (typing one “t” instead of two). On the other hand, _kick but_ and its variants is apparently not uncommon.

Note that _butt naked_ itself counts as a (”nearly mainstream”) eggcorn. See also _nip in the butt_.

| 3 comments | link | entered by Chris Waigl, 2005/09/11 |

butt » bud

Chiefly in:   the bud of someone's jokes

Classification: English – /t/-flapping

Spotted in the wild:

  • Adding insult to injury, the FOX network, which is taking a beating this fall in the ratings, has become the bud of a joke in the form of a fake press release circulating through portions of the TV industry. (link)
  • You know how people say, “You’re the bud of every joke”?? For you it’s “You’re the bud of every lie”, almost every rumor we know is spoken from your lips. (link)
  • It’s funny how some people are. How some people like to have all attention on them, no matter what the price, or who ends up being the bud of the joke. (link)
  • Not one to be the bud of a joke, Drew replied “If I am such a dog, why did you marry me?” (link)

Analyzed or reported by:

David Romano, whose post was spotted and referred to by Mark Liberman, found himself in the throws of this eggcorn and subsequently went to the bottom of the matter:

> I was talking with Kirk Boydston about this, and he thinks the eggcorn is “bud of all jokes” since intervocalic /t/ becomes a flap. He also suggested that “butt” as in “objective end” of all jokes. Apparently, I should have checked dictionary.com, since when I looked up “butt”, the first definition of the third sense of the word is: One that serves as an object of ridicule or contempt: I was the butt of their jokes.

Indeed, AHD4 notes two verbal and three nominal senses of _butt_, with all in all three different etymologies. The _butt_ of _the butt of someone’s joke(s)_ goes back to French _but_, meaning goal, target.

See also bud»butt as in _nip in the butt_.

| Comments Off link | entered by Ben Zimmer, 2005/04/02 |

bud » butt

Chiefly in:   nip in the butt

Classification: English – /t/-flapping

Spotted in the wild:

  • “We take the dangers of alcohol seriously,” said Spangler, in his second year as the golf coach. “It’s better to nip it in the butt sooner than later.” (Daily Nebraskan, Oct. 31, 2002)
  • This incident surfaces now because computer systems manager Bill Witkowski is fed up with being harassed and wants to nip it in the butt. (New Haven Advocate, Feb. 27, 2003)
  • “The story of our season is we have been giving up the big inning and when you give up the big inning and you don’t nip it in the butt both pitching wise and defensive wise. You lose ball games.” (Metropolitan State College of Denver, Met Online, Apr. 17, 2003)

Analyzed or reported by:

See also butt»bud as in _the bud of someone’s jokes_, _butt naked_, and butt»but.

| 3 comments | link | entered by Ben Zimmer, 2005/02/20 |