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Chris -- 2018-04-11

#1 2022-08-26 13:53:47

Peter Forster
Eggcornista
From: UK
Registered: 2006-09-06
Posts: 1224

'hang by a threat' for 'hang by a thread'

Assuming an entirely possible unfamiliarity with the basics of textiles, needlecraft, weaving and so on it could be that, should your hopes be threatened, you describe them as hanging by a threat.

Our hopes and dreams hang by a threat, strong yet vulnerable, shaken by the winds set by provocateurs, criminals and assassins, ...

Manchester United’s hopes of signing Raphael Varane this summer hang by a threat after reports emerged that the Real Madrid centre-back is …

But the fact is, that package that we passed last year that hung by a threat—if we’d had one less vote in the Senate, we would not have …

... to reimpose a 14-day quarantine is a massive blow to Spain’s holiday season, which was hanging by a threat even before the announcement.


Well I dreamt I fell into your web, and stuck around
But now I’m hanging by a fret, and it’s a long way down

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#2 2022-09-09 07:11:51

David Bird
Eggcornista
From: The Hammer, Ontario
Registered: 2009-07-28
Posts: 1692

Re: 'hang by a threat' for 'hang by a thread'

Ooh, good one. And I think that only you would think to look for “hang by a fret”, Peter. Damocles certainly had reason to fret, sort of.

Last edited by David Bird (2022-09-09 07:42:00)

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#3 2022-09-09 10:49:59

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2715
Website

Re: 'hang by a threat' for 'hang by a thread'

I get the picture of the web-stuck victim hanging by his fingernails onto the fret of a vertically-positioned guitar. Which, as you note, Tocayo, is reason to fret, sort of.

Last edited by DavidTuggy (2022-09-09 10:51:24)


*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

(Possible Corollary: it is, and we are .)

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#4 2023-06-29 12:34:10

kem
Eggcornista
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 2853

Re: 'hang by a threat' for 'hang by a thread'

Good one.


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

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