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#1 2021-02-16 10:41:34

drissel
Member
Registered: 2006-08-10
Posts: 21

"penned" for "pinned"

In an ice-storm crash near Ft Worth, TX an SUV was lodged between two 18-wheelers. The driver exited via the back door/window. A TV announcer said the driver was “penned” in his car rather than “pinned”. Kinda makes sense especially in cattle country.

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#2 2021-02-16 17:25:24

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2714
Website

Re: "penned" for "pinned"

Yes, it does make sense. The [ɛ] / [ɪ] merger, however, is prevalent enough in US speech (Kem and Pat have both confessed to it, as I remember) that this may have been just a pronunciation issue. If a caption spelled it “penned” that might indicate something, but it might well not. It’d be nice to get a perp confession on this one.

Last edited by DavidTuggy (2021-02-20 10:56:04)


*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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#3 2021-03-02 19:34:36

yanogator
Eggcornista
From: Ohio
Registered: 2007-06-07
Posts: 237

Re: "penned" for "pinned"

I’m familiar with people pronouncing [ɪ] as [É›], leading to people asking for an ‘ink-pin” when requesting a writing tool, but I don’t think I’ve heard it in the other direction.


“I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin

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#4 2021-03-07 04:30:18

patschwieterman
Administrator
From: California
Registered: 2005-10-25
Posts: 1680

Re: "penned" for "pinned"

I don’t know if this is relevant, but the fine folks over at the Online Etymological Dictionary suggest that the relationship between pen and pin may go back over a thousand years:

pen (n.2)
“small enclosure for domestic animals,” Old English penn, penne, a word of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Old English pinn “pin, peg” (see pin (n.)) on the notion of a bolted gate or else “structure made of pointed stakes.”
https://www.etymonline.com/word/pen#etymonline_v_12602

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#5 2021-05-08 08:08:04

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2714
Website

Re: "penned" for "pinned"

In an article regarding Bill and Melinda Gates’ daughter Jennifer:

Jennifer, currently a medical student, called the breakup “a challenging stretch of time” on Monday as she panned an address to her “friends” on her Instagram Story.

Probably just a typo, but some people nearly neutralize the [æ]-[ɛ] difference. I don’t suppose her friends all panned the address that she penned, but some of them might have.


*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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#6 2021-05-08 10:45:10

Peter Forster
Eggcornista
From: UK
Registered: 2006-09-06
Posts: 1222

Re: "penned" for "pinned"

Panning an address to friends suggests broadcasting perhaps, as if sweeping that camera in a wide arc to avoid leaving anyone out?

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#7 2021-05-09 20:23:25

David Bird
Eggcornista
From: The Hammer, Ontario
Registered: 2009-07-28
Posts: 1690

Re: "penned" for "pinned"

“panned an address” might be an anticipation error, but a tasty one. It suggests to me that she cooked something up.

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