Eggcorns

A forum for discussing US dialects (accents).
scw1217
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Eggcorns

Postby scw1217 » Sat Apr 21, 2007 9:58 am

This website both fascinates me and drives me crazy. They are examples of the very things that I hear here in the south that drive me mad.

As an introduction, an "eggcorn" is a term applied to those turns of phrase in the English language that began as mistakes and have become more mainstream. Eggcorn itself comes from a constant mispronunciation of "acorn".

For example "to name a view" instead of "to name a few", "towed the line" instead of "toed the line", and (this one I have heard locally) "bobwire" instead of "barbed wire". This website contains both the definition of the individual eggcorns, a history of where it came from, and citations of it in print.

My question for you is, at one point do we just say, "WRONG!" (which is my inclination) instead of accepting the changes!

http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/
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Dr. Goodword
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EGGCORNS

Postby Dr. Goodword » Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:15 pm

Funny you should mention them: There is no better place than here to learn about eggcorns, in fact:
http://www.alphadictionary.com/blog/?p=33
• The Good Dr. Goodword

scw1217
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Re: EGGCORNS

Postby scw1217 » Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:57 am

Funny you should mention them: There is no better place than here to learn about eggcorns, in fact:
http://www.alphadictionary.com/blog/?p=33
:oops: Yes, well, nevermind that I missed that whole article, good Dr., they still drive me nuts!
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skinem
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Postby skinem » Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:47 am

Hmmmm..mispronunciation of acorn, eh?

Around here, you have an indication of where someone is from by whether they say "a-corn" or "a-crn"...

txmusicgirl
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Postby txmusicgirl » Fri Jun 15, 2007 1:27 pm

Hmmmm..mispronunciation of acorn, eh?

Around here, you have an indication of where someone is from by whether they say "a-corn" or "a-crn"...
I'm inclined to the latter "a-crn" I use the least number of letters when im talkin :lol:

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Slava
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Re: Eggcorns

Postby Slava » Sun Sep 28, 2014 9:05 pm

An old thread, but here's a new article to add:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... orn-moment

I must disagree, however, with the name of this phenomenon. I cannot see how anyone would ever hear eggcorn in acorn. Those very first sounds are completely separate in my book. I can deal with egg sit, but eggcess doesn't cut it. I also think the majority of these things are actually dreamed up, not real mis-understandings.

"Excuse me while I kiss this guy" is real, I gather.
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Re: Eggcorns

Postby Perry Lassiter » Mon Sep 29, 2014 3:52 pm

Bobwire for barbedwire has been around in common usage in Texas and elsewhere for at least sixty years, prob longer. Isn't that long enough to qualify as a word in itself? Especially since that's the term used by farmers and ranchers who actually erect fences with the stuff?
pl

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Re: Eggcorns

Postby Philip Hudson » Wed Oct 15, 2014 2:20 am

Perry, the correct pronunciation for barbed wire in Texas is "bob woar". A computer programmer, who once worked for me (and was a very good at her job), insisted that it was "Bob Woar" because it was named fore the man who invented it.
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Postby Philip Hudson » Wed Oct 15, 2014 2:22 am

Omit
Last edited by Philip Hudson on Wed Oct 15, 2014 11:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

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Re: Eggcorns

Postby Perry Lassiter » Wed Oct 15, 2014 10:10 pm

Well sure, Phillip. Just lak firetruck be pronounced fahrtruck. The H is added for stress.
pl


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