nougat » nugget

Chiefly in:   chewy nugget

Classification: English – questionable

Spotted in the wild:

  • “…peanuts, caramel and a delicious chewy nugget in the center.” (from Stocklin)
  • “a second flavor in its Awesome candy bar line - the Awesome Nut & Chew Bar (chewy nugget with almonds and honey) covered with dark chocolate.” (link)
  • “We had a chance to take a beta of the game for a spin, so let’s get down to the chewy nugget center of what the beta had in store for us.” (link)

Analyzed or reported by:

  • Rex Stocklin (American Dialect Society mailing list, 15 May 2005)

I’ve marked this as “questionable” because it’s often hard to distinguish references to chewy nuggets of things from references to chewy nougat (literally, as in the first two examples, or metaphorically, as in the third). The word “nugget” is, of course, much more frequent and less specialized than “nougat”, so a reshaping would be natural.

| Comments Off link | entered by Arnold Zwicky, 2005/05/31 |

bupkis, bupkus, bupkiss » buttkiss

Chiefly in:   don't know buttkiss

Classification: English – questionable

Spotted in the wild:

  • “WHile I don’t know buttkiss about STREEM speakers, and they seem like they’re trying to overwhelm buyers with size and specs…” (link)
  • “WEAVER as someone related to the project why don’t you just shut up…..mentioning names is out of line, you don’t know buttkiss about the …” (link)
  • “Younger sports fans don’t know buttkiss…” (from Stocklin)

Analyzed or reported by:

  • Rex Stocklin (American Dialect Society mailing list, 15 May 2005)

Only two examples from a Google web search, both given above — these against ca. 117 examples of spellings with the correct “p” from Yiddish (ca. 74 of them for “bupkis”).

A reshaping as “don’t know buttkiss” would fit into the collection of negative idioms “don’t know (doodly) squat”, “don’t know shit”, and the like. But such a small number of examples isn’t a lot to go on, so I’ve marked this one as “questionable”.

| 3 comments | link | entered by Arnold Zwicky, 2005/05/31 |

mano a mano » mano-on-mano

Classification: English – cross-language

Spotted in the wild:

  • And get ready for some fireworks between two of the most scintillating rookies in the NBA next week because Cleveland and Chicago face-off twice, meaning we get to watch Dajuan Wagner and Jay “Don’t Call Me Jason” Williams go mano-on-mano. (CBS SportsLine, Nov. 30, 2002)
  • “Print this,” Chief Warner said. “The retiring fire chief, who is a senior citizen, is hereby challenging the younger police chief to a nine-hole match at the course of his choice, mano-on-mano,” with the police/fire trophy on the line. (East Bay (RI) Newspapers, Oct. 16, 2003)
  • Surely Cheney considered the Rocky option before using the F-word to tell Sen. Pat Leahy what the VEEP thought of the Vermonter’s constant criticisms. I do not claim to be an expert on the F-word or its usage. Still, I would have say that Flipping the bird would have been a truly bush-league gesture in a small group of senators and one Frazzled vice president. This was mano-on-mano. It required more than symbolism. (Augusta Free Press, June 29, 2004)
  • I spoke to Mike D’Antoni as he just came out here, the Suns head coach — he said, “We are playing mano on mano.” (ESPN sideline reporter Jim Gray during Game 3 of the NBA Western Conference Finals, May 28, 2005)
  • “Look man we talk bout this later, mano on mano. You dig?” Larry offered, hoping to quell the tension. (The Basketball Team #4 by Parker/Paladin, 1995)

Larry Horn on the American Dialect Society listserv (link) and Arnold Zwicky on the Language Log (link) have already discussed how _mano a mano_ has been reinterpreted to mean ‘man to man’ or ‘man on man,’ rather than the original Spanish meaning of ‘hand to hand.’ The form _mano-on-mano_ turns this covert eggcorn into an overt one.

| 3 comments | link | entered by Ben Zimmer, 2005/05/30 |

buck » butt

Chiefly in:   butt naked

Classification: English – nearly mainstream

Spotted in the wild:

  • “I was butt naked doing push-ups, trying to keep warm,” said Joshua Fuller, 23, of Saginaw Township, who was held in isolation in 2000. (The Detroit Free Press: May 11, 2005)
  • They’d do well to turn down the throbbing house music–it’s not exactly soothing when you’re butt naked and drenched with brown gunk. (The Chicago Tribune: September 27, 2004)
  • In a locker room filled with butt-naked, macho jocks… (The Somerville News: May 11, 2005)
  • To be certain, as a toddler suffering from measles, I used to march “butt-naked,” as New Yorkers would say, behind some of the street-parades organized by the Young Pioneers. (GhanaWeb.com: May 12, 2005)

Washington State University’s Common Errors in English “PC”izes the transformation:

The standard expression is “buck naked,” and the contemporary “butt naked” is an error that will get you laughed at in some circles. However, it might be just as well if the new form were to triumph. Originally a “buck” was a dandy, a pretentious, overdressed show-off of a man. Condescendingly applied in the U.S. to Native Americans and black slaves, it quickly acquired negative connotations. To the historically aware speaker, “buck naked” conjures up stereotypical images of naked “savages” or—worse—slaves laboring naked on plantations. Consider using the alternative expression “stark naked.”

That is not to say that there was any PC motivation in what I’d think was simply misperception of the original phrase.

The fourth citation brings up the question of regionality. The author is on staff at Nassau Community College of the State University of New York, where he teaches English and Journalism.

| 9 comments | link | entered by Thomas W Ping, 2005/05/23 |

throes » throngs

Chiefly in:   throngs of passion

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • “I don’t know, it [the artist’s penis] seems to be somewhat smaller than the sketches.” She noted. “But then again it is only semi-erect and you’ve drawn it in the throngs of passion.” (link)
  • “… and this shock is driven home when Harry suffers from a heart attack in the throngs of passion with Marin. …” (link)
  • “You’re hoping to apprehend a few suspects. And if in the throngs of passion, you make a few promises you don’t intend to keep…plead the Fifth.” (link)

Analyzed or reported by:

  • Neil Crawford (ADS-L, 23 May 2005)

The first cite is from Crawford in ADS-L, the others from the 56 that turned up on a Google web search on 23 May 2005. From the semantic point of view, “throngs” is an even better replacement for “throes” than “throws” (q.v.), though it’s imperfect phonologically.

| 2 comments | link | entered by Arnold Zwicky, 2005/05/23 |
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