incestuous » insectuous

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • But HCE is compromised by guilt, his nebulous sin in the park and his “insectuous longing” burden him with the stain of “original sin.” (The Modern World, analysis of "Finnegans Wake")
  • Zues was a womanizer and had an insectuous relationship with his sister […] (Ultimate Central Forum, Oct 14, 2004)
  • Sounded almost as if it was vaugely insectuous. I wondered if Luke was his brother or something, he being the guy in the photo. (link)
  • The Text of Deuteromony 23:2 uses the Hebrew “mamzer” which does not mean “bastard.” To be a mamzer, the child must be born from an insectuous relationship specifically forbidden in Leviticus 20. (alt.christnet.christianlife, Oct 19, 2005)

Analyzed or reported by:

Not a very frequent eggcorn. Most of the occurrences of _insectuous relationship_ and the like are puns.

| link | entered by Chris Waigl, 2005/10/27 |

Commentaries

  1. 1

    Commentary by Brenda Shaw , 2005/10/31 at 3:13 pm

    Could this be a typo? It would be easy to switch the s and c.

    If there’s more than one instance of insectuous in a single article, then we’d know the error was in the writer’s head as opposed to fingers, although it could still be a matter of just not knowing how to spell the word.

  2. 2

    Commentary by Nick I , 2006/01/13 at 11:33 pm

    “Insectuous” is a very intentional (and meaningful, if you’re willing to take on Finnegans Wake) Joycean pun, but the rest are obvious typos.

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