holds » holes

Chiefly in:   no holes barred

Classification: English – final d/t-deletion – idiom-related

Spotted in the wild:

  • Shakespeare’s classic romantic tragedy is transformed into a no-holes barred, punk-inflected Elizabethan stage send-up of the story of a doomed love. (hollywood.com, movie blurb)
  • This film is a must for Sean Bean fans, it shows him as a violent no holes barred villain. (lovefilm.com, DVD review)
  • “It is a testimony to the strength of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the entire Chevrolet Silverado effort when you are able to get support from an organization the caliber of Rodeway Inn/Econo Lodge,” Labonte concluded. “Having a high-energy, no-holes-barred group like Trick Pony on the side of our truck couldn’t be more perfect for the Martinsville race.” (BobbyLabonte.com, 7 August, 2005)
  • “Dumb Girls,” is a self-deprecating, no holes barred look at about getting hoodwinked in the romantic wars. (Todays Women in Music)
  • Only in India would Clinton get this kind of no holes barred response. (ZNet Daily Commentary, April 17, 2000)
  • Their advice is conveyed through powerful prose sparked with humor, and stunning, no-holes-barred poetry. (U Pittsburgh Press, book review, March 23, 2003)
  • Out of eight episodes Marty shot, we selected five of the best including the double-training of two brothers, Roman and Sascha Chaykin, and a training for an everything-goes no-holes-barred orgy. (ohghurl.com, DVD review)

Analyzed or reported by:

Ken Lakritz calls this eggcorn “extremely common”, and this is true in terms of search engine hits.

_No holes barred_ also occurs particularly often on sites that advertise pornography. These pages would provide excellent examples — all variations on the theme of _no-holes-barred sex_ — if it was possible to distinguish between bona-fide eggcorn usage and (rather crude) wordplay. The “holes” in these cases are obviously understood as the vagina, the mouth and the anus.

See also _no holds barrel_.

| link | entered by Chris Waigl, 2005/08/07 |

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