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Like a Bowl in a China Shop Thread poster: Tom in London
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:15
Member (2008)
Italian to English
interesting article on the newly identified linguistic phenomenon of the eggcorn:
http://tinyurl.com/42unmk8
examples:
"put the cat before the horse"
"a high-blown rhetorical style"
"Sarah Palin and her elk"
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Evans (X)
Local time: 13:15
Spanish to English
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| Interesting article, Tom | Aug 11, 2011 |
And I love the "Sarah Palin and her elk", made me laugh out loud!
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Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 14:15
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Tom in London wrote:
Interesting article on the newly identified linguistic phenomenon of the eggcorn...
What would the difference be between eggcorns and popular etymology? Its the same thing, isn't it? I bet the eggcorn web site was started by a guy who discovered this phenomenon and couldn't figure out what the existing term was that we linguists use for it, so he coined a new one.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:15
Member (2008)
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER
Samuel Murray wrote:
What would the difference be between eggcorns and popular etymology? Its the same thing, isn't it? I bet the eggcorn web site was started by a guy who discovered this phenomenon and couldn't figure out what the existing term was that we linguists use for it, so he coined a new one.
Not so, Samuel: for scholars of linguistics, eggcorns have become a specific topic. See, for example, the analyses here:
http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/
There are many other websites where eggcorns are discussed.
[Edited at 2011-08-11 08:53 GMT]
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Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 05:15
English to German
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In memoriam | A German example | Aug 11, 2011 |
"Ein zweischneidiges Schwert", (literally: a double-edged sword - something that has or can have both favorable and unfavorable consequences) at times turns into:
"Ein zweischneidiges Pferd" - a double-edged horse
(This is from a collection of linguistic bloopers that we employees at a German ad agency loved to collect during endless and boring meetings)
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:15
Member (2008)
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER | Not an eggcorn but..... | Aug 11, 2011 |
...I have a very polite friend who always says "high faluting" because she doesn't know that "highfalutin" is correct.
[Edited at 2011-08-11 08:56 GMT]
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Holly Nathan (X)
Italy
Local time: 14:15
Italian to English
| the ants are my friends, they're blowing in the wind | Aug 11, 2011 |
There is a book which has loads of examples of misheard song lyrics. "Scuse me while I kiss this guy" etc.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:15
Member (2008)
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER
Holly Nathan wrote:
There is a book which has loads of examples of misheard song lyrics. "Scuse me while I kiss this guy" etc.
It's actually a website, Holly.
Here:
http://www.kissthisguy.com/
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Holly Nathan (X)
Italy
Local time: 14:15
Italian to English
| out of print I think | Aug 11, 2011 |
Tom in London wrote: Holly Nathan wrote:
There is a book which has loads of examples of misheard song lyrics. "Scuse me while I kiss this guy" etc. It's actually a website, Holly. Here: http://www.kissthisguy.com/
Very funny website.I am only going to look at it for five minutes and then I have to get back to my work. Only five minutes........................
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Phil Hand
China
Local time: 20:15
Chinese to English
| Always good to see a plug for Language Log | Aug 11, 2011 |
It should be compulsory reading for anyone who writes professionally in English.
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Evans (X)
Local time: 13:15
Spanish to English
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| Off topic - misheard song lyrics | Aug 11, 2011 |
A friend of mine as a child genuinely thought the song went "a strawberry feels forever" and it put her off eating them.
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@Gilla
I've gone off eating blackberries. For good.
I like to say, "Let's build that bridge when we come to it."
[Modificato alle 2011-08-11 12:42 GMT]
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Steven Capsuto
United States
Local time: 08:15
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Hardly a new phenomenon | Aug 11, 2011 |
How is this different from a malapropism (a term that has been in use since the 1840s, some 60 years after the character of Mrs. Malaprop first stepped onto an English stage)?
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:15
Member (2008)
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER
I wish there were some way to completely delete a post.
[Edited at 2011-08-11 12:58 GMT]
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Andy Watkinson
Spain
Local time: 14:15
Member
Catalan to English
+ ...
Samuel Murray wrote: Tom in London wrote:
Interesting article on the newly identified linguistic phenomenon of the eggcorn... What would the difference be between eggcorns and popular etymology? Its the same thing, isn't it? I bet the eggcorn web site was started by a guy who discovered this phenomenon and couldn't figure out what the existing term was that we linguists use for it, so he coined a new one.
Eerrrm.....Samuel, the term was coined by the Language Log, a group of linguists.
And to Steven, if you go to their website it explains exactly what constitutes an eggcorn and how they differ from malapropisms.
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