foolproof » fullproof

Variant(s):  full-proof

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • Plus, there’s no “if” about it…we’ve definitely executed innocent people. It would be impossible to have a 100% fullproof system. (link)
  • how on earth can you extract information from somebody who maintains a poker face throughout the *entire* game? You can’t, this is precisely where the use of poker-faces lie. It’s fullproof if consistently maintained and this is precisely what these guys do… (link)
  • I should add that this program is not fullproof but has been working perfectly for me (link)
  • This classification method is however still being challenged, and does not seem to be fullproof. (link)
  • I usually forward the bill to the vendor along with a form letter asking the vendor to contact the publisher and make sure the billing address is the vendors and not ours. However, it isn’t a long term solution since it does cost us postage and is not fullproof. (link)

Analyzed or reported by:

  • Bogus Trumper, coopermktg, genthrob (link)

Note 2008-12-29. Michael Quinion notes on the ADS-L mailing list that this eggcorn can be traced quite far into the past:

> My son gave me a big collection of old SF magazines for Christmas. On the back cover of issue No 5 of Nebula Science Fiction for Autumn 1953 is an
advert: “A Full-proof Insurance Policy”.

| Comments Off link | entered by Chris Waigl, 2006/10/26 |

exorbitant » exuberant

Chiefly in:   exuberant prices

Classification: English – questionable

Spotted in the wild:

  • As 0% balance transfer deals dwindle, cards that offer extremely low rate of interest for the lifetime of the balance are ahead in the popularity stakes. These deals allow cardholders to pay off their credit card debt over a long period of time without accruing more debt due to exuberant interest rates. (CardGuide.co.uk, September 20, 2006)
  • The Motion Sound KP-200S: Not Worthy Of It’s Exuberant Price (Epinions.com, Sep 04, 2005)
  • Titled Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers, the doc focuses on the private corporations charging exuberant prices for goods in Iraq (a six-pack of Coca-Cola for $45?), much of which is, in the end, paid for by American taxpayers. (cinematical, blog entry, Sep 19, 2006)

Analyzed or reported by:

  • Nancy Friedman (on her blog, and in the Eggcorm forums)

This astonishing substitution has aspects of an eggcorn, with the adjective “exaggerated” providing for the link between the sense of the original and the reshaping. But a case could be made for this being more like a malapropism, or for the meanings of _exorbitant_ and _exuberant_ collapsing into one when costs and prices are concerned — at least for some people. This is why I have marked it as questionable for the time being.

| 2 comments | link | entered by Chris Waigl, 2006/10/16 |

foment » ferment

Chiefly in:   ferment trouble/fears/unrest

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • Indonesia’s recalled ambassador, Hamzah Thayeb, believes Australia’s Uniting Church with partners in Papua, is fermenting trouble in the province. (ABC.Net.au, 20 April , 2006, The World Today transcript)
  • In a special announcement made on the state-owned Kaduna State Radio Corporation (KSMC) Mr Ibhaze said his command was reliably informed that trouble makers wanted to ferment trouble either yesterday or immediately after today’s Jumat prayers pointing out that the aim was to cause violence and destruction. (allAfrica.com, September 23, 2006)
  • But if he is denied the throne, will he rebel and ferment a civil war of his own? (Nick Cohen in Guardian Unlimited, October 3, 2004)

_Foment_ having become obscure and somewhat formulaic in its usage, the verb _ferment_ and its vivid imagery of slightly disgusting, bubbling and creative chaos is there to fill the gap.

With thanks to Bernhard Rohrer, who pointed out this eggcorn.

| 1 comment | link | entered by Chris Waigl, 2006/10/13 |