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vast » fast

Chiefly in:   fast majority , fast swathes

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • “There is no doubt for those who are willing to undertake the term in a fast majority of cases, results are impressive and permanent if the exercise advise is followed on a regular basis.” (Back Care Specific Training:)
  • ” While the risk of HIV infection continues beyond the age of 50, the fast majority of people with substantial risk behaviour are likely to have become infected by this age.” (AVERT: Understanding HIV and AIDS Statistics)
| Comments Off link | entered by ZaraBaxter, 2005/05/13 |

wildfire » wildflowers

Chiefly in:   spread like wildflowers

Variant(s):  wildflower

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • “Little wonder Buddhism spread like wildflowers.” (link)
  • “In the early 1960s, rock and roll was spreading like wildflowers.” (student paper, quoted by Michael Quinion on ADS-L, 12 May 2005)
  • “Everyone wants to get to the front, Everyone wants to move on, Change the course of their life, The mob mentality spreads like wildflower…” (link)

Analyzed or reported by:

  • commenter Carl Hart, 1 March 2005 (link)

The first cite is from Hart’s comment.

Writing on ADS-L on 12 May 2005, Larry Horn reported 352 Google web hits for “spreading like wildflowers” (as against 42,200 for “spreading like wildfire”). I then did a search on the forms of SPREAD (”spread”, “spreads”, “spreading”) with “wildflowers” and “wildflower” both:

SPREAD + wildflowers: 435 total
SPREAD + wildflower: 118 total
grand total: 553

People who come across examples and find them novel often comment on the poetic character of the “wildflower(s)” versions. In a follow-up to Horn, Quinion noted that some of the examples “are particularly apposite: ‘Aromatherapy is spreading like wildflowers’ and (from phillyburbs.com) ‘Yurts, fire tower lookouts and backcountry huts are spreading like wildflowers as increasingly available options for vacationers looking for inexpensive ways of staying in the great outdoors.’ “

| 1 comment | link | entered by Arnold Zwicky, 2005/05/12 |

appall » uphaul

Chiefly in:   uphauled , uphauling

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • Suddenly a bus pulled up next to a small group of poor Nepalese children sitting alongside the road, a fairly large American woman pushed a $10 bill through the window and shoved it in front of one of the children’s faces. I was uphauled. (link)
  • I was shocked and uphauled at the actions and rash minds of certain people. (link)
  • After reading last weeks article about the prospect of Hector not fighting and staying in Troy with his family, I have to say I am uphauled by your lack of up to date facts. (link)
  • I was completely uphauled by this, and so promptly turned around and tried to get as many people interested as I could in Linux. (link)
  • It’s probably because this is such a student-based town, but the anti-war following in this town is uphauling. (link)
  • The violence that the media portrays as entertainment is uphauling to me. (link)
  • Having a 3-day rally event summarized in one little hour is uphauling. (link)
  • What makes the style so uphauling that we’re forbidding its return? (link)
| 1 comment | link | entered by Ben Zimmer, 2005/05/07 |

cease » seize

Chiefly in:   seize fire , seize and desist , never seizes to amaze

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • Meanwhile, the EU High Representative of Foreign and Defence Policy Xavier Solana warned the armed Palestinian organizations to accept seize fire, or else economic sanctions would be imposed against them. (Hellenic Radio News, June 21, 2003)
  • And there’s territories west of Nagorno-Karabakh between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, which are occupied by Armenian forces as a result of the stalemate or the seize fire that ended the war. (Department of Defense news transcript, Dec. 2, 2003)
  • It was later discovered that both Yoruba and the Hausa elders in the area tried to quell the situation when it first started but that their constant plea for a seize fire was said to have fell on deaf ears as the youths from both groups went for each others’ throat in what could aptly be described as a free-for-all fight. (allAfrica.com, Apr. 26, 2005)
  • So I would encourage you, if you are doing that, to seize and desist. (House Subcommittee on Forestry, Resource Conservation, and Research, hearing transcript, May 13, 1998)
  • That person had left the company, but she was allowed to take here e-mail address with her and we had five days to respond to the seize and desist order, and we did not even know about it because Conny was away and her private e-mail of course was not answered and so forth. (WIPO transcript, Toronto regional consultation, Jan. 19, 1999)
  • On August 24, 2000, the representative of the Complainant sent a warning letter to the Respondent (Mr. Mike Flowers) asking to seize and desist from using the domain name “cellcontrol.com”, and to transfer this domain name to the Complainant. (WIPO Administrative Panel Decision, Nov. 6, 2000)
  • Peru never seizes to amaze me. There are still lost cities to be found in the jungle today. (link)

See also cease and decease.

| Comments Off link | entered by Ben Zimmer, 2005/05/07 |

immemorial » in memorial

Chiefly in:   time in memorial

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

It’s unclear from the above transcripts if the speakers themselves said “time in memorial” or if the eggcorn emerged during transcription.

| 2 comments | link | entered by Ben Zimmer, 2005/05/07 |
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