UKBouldering.com
the shizzle => shootin' the shit => Topic started by: Will Hunt on November 17, 2018, 01:27:42 pm
-
Eggcorn. Noun. In linguistics, an eggcorn is an idiosyncratic substitution of a word or phrase for a word or words that sound similar or identical in the speaker's dialect.
My favourites so far:
Don't take it for granite.
For all intensive purposes.
I was wondering around the crag when...
Well done, son shine.
I can't bare it any more.
-
The BT salesperson yesterday: "You may not be legible."
The internet, all the time: "An absolutely top draw boulder problem."
-
I actually once heard with my own ears a friend accuse somebody of "popcorn kettle black".
-
Great to learn there's a name for this. Couple that spring to mind:
climbing is my favourite past time
dinner's ready, could you lay out the cut-el-ree
it's just part of the course
-
I actually once heard with my own ears a friend accuse somebody of "popcorn kettle black".
:clap2: that's going to take some beating
-
My school friend, "I can't wait for the exams to be over, I need some rest bite" has stuck with me to this day.
-
I actually once heard with my own ears a friend accuse somebody of "popcorn kettle black".
:clap2: that's going to take some beating
He'd already been in for a ribbing earlier in the evening when, about 2 minutes after a group conversation about oral as performed on the female sex, he looked up and asked, "who on earth is Colonel Lingus".
-
Two I've heard or seen on forums more than a few times:
- tow the line
- escape goat / scrape goat
-
Two I've heard or seen on forums more than a few times:
- tow the line
- escape goat / scrape goat
Authocorrect doesn’t help with these...
m😃
-
Does it include deliberate ones?
Like the classic “Murky buckets”?
Or “Fairy snuff”?
Or do they have to be accidental?
Like my favourite log book entry about the foredeck being dangerous due to “Whore frost”?
Or this, and I swear I took this photo in Piraeus (meant to be Warves):
(https://image.ibb.co/c1m7X0/50209-E9-C-5-C25-4-E2-F-A9-F5-7-BFCE7111358.jpg)
-
Saved for prosperity
-
Well balls!
Typo.
Wharves
-
My school friend, "I can't wait for the exams to be over, I need some rest bite" has stuck with me to this day.
Funny how these sorts of things stay with you... I still remember one from school age whilst round at a mate's house. We must've asked his mum for a solution to some complex problem to which she declared 'I'm not Ironside you know!'
Also, being a bit slow on the uptake, I only realised after previous posting that eggcorn is presumably itself an eggcorn.
-
:lol:
It actually took me a while to get that one. What world are these people in?!
-
Saved for prosperity
Note “Gargo” to the right, too.
This is what happens when you put “I speak seven languages” on your CV...
-
Or this, and I swear I took this photo in Piraeus (meant to be Warves):
(https://image.ibb.co/c1m7X0/50209-E9-C-5-C25-4-E2-F-A9-F5-7-BFCE7111358.jpg)
:lol:
-
Saved for prosperity
Note “Gargo” to the right, too.
This is what happens when you put “I speak seven languages” on your CV...
:shrug:
-
Saved for prosperity
Note “Gargo” to the right, too.
This is what happens when you put “I speak seven languages” on your CV...
:shrug:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tBqEsr79Jr8 (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tBqEsr79Jr8)
-
Saved for prosperity
Note “Gargo” to the right, too.
This is what happens when you put “I speak seven languages” on your CV...
:shrug:
Right, that didn’t make sense, because I meant to quote my own post not yours Cheque.
I’d left it too long to edit my own and wanted to add the reference to the sketch.
Then, I thought you must have not got the sketch reference, and...
-
"pacifically"
"that was a galliant effort"
And after a particley impressive bit of climbing:
"that was absolutely superfluous!"
-
Popular local phrase, in the villages around the southern edge of Dartmoor, and a favourite of my Grandmother; was “San Fairy Ann”.
It meant, someone who was careless or glib, as in “he’s all bliddy San Fairy Ann, that boy”.
I think I was an adult before I found out it was a corruption of the French “Ça ne fait rien”.
-
And after a particley impressive bit of climbing:
Bit of a quantum leap then?
On the French tip, Bluejohn mines = blue et jaune and for our fishing friends, John Dory may = jaune doré.
Are eggcorns what mighty yolks grow from? :-\
-
Time for this, surely?
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OCbvCRkl_4U (http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OCbvCRkl_4U)
-
Are eggcorns what mighty yolks grow from? :-\
Only lidl’s ones...
-
Popular local phrase, in the villages around the southern edge of Dartmoor, and a favourite of my Grandmother; was “San Fairy Ann”.
It meant, someone who was careless or glib, as in “he’s all bliddy San Fairy Ann, that boy”.
I think I was an adult before I found out it was a corruption of the French “Ça ne fait rien”.
That’s lovely!!
-
Popular local phrase, in the villages around the southern edge of Dartmoor, and a favourite of my Grandmother; was “San Fairy Ann”.
Interesting origin but not sure it's that local, my gran lived in Birmingham and she used to say it. Maybe it came back from the war?
-
Curiously its acronym would be SFA.
-
Popular local phrase, in the villages around the southern edge of Dartmoor, and a favourite of my Grandmother; was “San Fairy Ann”.
Interesting origin but not sure it's that local, my gran lived in Birmingham and she used to say it. Maybe it came back from the war?
I’m told it originates either from the Norman era (I think unlikely, as an opinion) or from the “Onion Johnnies”, mainly Bretons, who exploited the early days of cross channel ferries and the rationing in the UK post war; to cycle around selling “stuff”, often in the Breton striped jersey and with a string of onions around their necks.
Google says the phrase crops up in Cycling circles too, but I found references to it in Kent as well.
Possibly most common within easy cycling distance of a channel port?
WW1 and 2 import from trenches or Continental combatants (or refugees)?
Still, I know most of the old folk that used it, didn’t know what it was.
Edit.
My Dad says, they probably weren’t onions, it was likely garlic; but as a kid, he and his friends didn’t know what garlic was, so they called them onions.
-
Popular local phrase, in the villages around the southern edge of Dartmoor, and a favourite of my Grandmother; was “San Fairy Ann”.
Interesting origin but not sure it's that local, my gran lived in Birmingham and she used to say it. Maybe it came back from the war?
Popular with my Mother too, a Lancastrian. I do like the adoption of foreign phrases, raisin and mayday from the french etc.
-
Americans say "could care less" instead of "couldn't care less" - I don't know why, but it really does my head in. I want to explain why its wrong every time I hear it.
-
I like all the mute points being made here.
-
Oh! Oh!
Don’t forget THE most irritating of all:
Expresso.
:slap:
-
If you are mentioning Expresso, i’m afraid I have to re-post this:
https://youtu.be/qmVnr7rsWrE
-
All this sounds like an idea for a bbc2 / dave tv show. The host being a chimera of Stephen Fry and Will
-
https://youtu.be/XnXKVY-_i2c
-
Not forgetting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyAWSnwBJLA
-
All this sounds like an idea for a bbc2 / dave tv show. The host being a chimera of Stephen Fry and Will
Dave Gorman did an episode of "Modern Life" on them.
Ones i can remember are;
"Like a bowl in a china shop"
"On this from the gecko"
-
I’ve been going over these with a fine toothcomb.
-
"On tenderhooks."
-
"Wet my appetite".
-
"Wet my appetite".
Oh, yes. Thank you! This is a favourite.
-
This thread is a total damp squid.
-
Peaked/ peeked my interest.
Someone at work used the term "Get shut on 'im" yesterday which I think is an eggcorn of "Get shot of him" with a bit of language-mangling local dialect thrown in.
-
This thread is a total damp squid.
You're right, it just doesn't pass mustard.
-
"Wet my appetite".
Oh, yes. Thank you! This is a favourite.
Though only really committed when written.
-
A propos good grammar...
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LL-zer6-Rs0 (http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LL-zer6-Rs0)
-
"It's the Laura Average"
-
"It's the Laura Average"
Still, she has a nice personality.
-
Laura Norder is often missing on Merseyside.
-
Pretty good double whammy spotted today whilst browsing tools on screwfix, written by a negative reviewer:
"To change belts you'll need a size 1 and size 2 pozi screwdriver, a hex key and oddles of patients"
-
better make sure its not a left handed oddle...
-
A left handed tool wouldn't be ideal, but if the ships are down I think you'd manage.
-
Over the weekend, whilst doing Xmas prep type stuff, my nine year old wandered out of Whittards holding a plastic shot glass; recently drained of some sickly hot white-chocolate gloop.
We moved into Millets, nextdoor and little miss, strode straight up to the assistant and said “Excuse me. Where are the Pina Coladas?”
Baffled assistant and parents, mumble “whaa?”
“Coz my face gets so cold, playing football.” She explains.
I catch sight of older brother, pissing himself with laughter, trying to hide behind a rack of jackets.
He set her up, apparently, told her the wrong name.
“What was she supposed to ask for?” Asks his mum..
“Baklavas” he said.
-
Peaked/ peeked my interest.
Someone at work used the term "Get shut on 'im" yesterday which I think is an eggcorn of "Get shot of him" with a bit of language-mangling local dialect thrown in.
My mother says "to get shut of" to mean "get rid of", again, she's a Lancastrian so can't necessarily be trusted.
-
Can I interest anyone in some genuine Chester Draws?
https://www.gumtree.com/search?search_category=all&q=chester%20draws
-
Can I interest anyone in some genuine Chester Draws?
https://www.gumtree.com/search?search_category=all&q=chester%20draws
That's beggars belief.
-
Who would name a piece of furniture after a Fast Show character?
-
A written one I forgot about. "I was attacked by a viscous dog" always makes me wonder if the dog flowed after them as they ran away.
-
:lol:
Terminator 2 stylee
-
Steve McManaman said “point black range” while commentating on the Man City match last night.
-
On the radio yesterday: Throw the kitchen sink in :)
-
This is a subject that needs handling with kid’s gloves.
-
Malapropism, not eggcorn I guess, but my (4yr old) daughter accused me of "telling porcupines" the other day...
-
Americans say "could care less" instead of "couldn't care less" - I don't know why, but it really does my head in. I want to explain why its wrong every time I hear it.
This just makes no bloody sense.
Continuing on the slight tangent of 'sayings said wrong,' the one that winds me up the most if when people say 'the proof will be in the pudding.' No it ****ing won't. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating.
That and 'generally' and 'genuinely' used interchangable; eg 'I generally do believe you' or 'Genuinely I go shopping at Tesco.' Nightmare.
-
Someone in our office just said "cremating evidence".
:lol:
-
I’ve probably shared this somewhere else on here, but, hey ho.
On the US and us, “two nations, separated by a common language” theme...
Was once based in Port Canaveral, Florida, and used to frequent the base taxi rank (sorry, I mean “Cab”) with my felllow Jack Tars.
This being in the days, when a Cabbie invariably had a Marlborough Red hanging off his lips.
Queue my mate tapping on the glass and requesting of the driver “Oi mate, can I bum a fag?”
We had to get a different taxi.
-
You have to be careful not to be misunderstood when you’re rooting for someone in Australia...
-
(https://i.ibb.co/fXcFj3t/8-AF6-C236-98-B5-43-CB-A4-BC-219-FDA5-BBDD9.jpg)
Well, almost on topic.
-
Malapropism, not eggcorn I guess, but my (4yr old) daughter accused me of "telling porcupines" the other day...
This has reminded me (how could I forget) that my wife has a chronic and debilitating condition where she mixes bits of common phrases and similes. I.E, she never says "these are dry as a bone", she always says "these are dry as old boots".
The summit of this condition was when she turned to me and smugly declared, "put that in your bumhole and pipe it".
-
A friend told me a good one this morning. Apparently she only just realised it is 'pay-per-view' not 'paper view'.
-
Ive only just realised Eggcorns is from Acorns..
:slap:
-
Malapropism, not eggcorn I guess, but my (4yr old) daughter accused me of "telling porcupines" the other day...
This has reminded me (how could I forget) that my wife has a chronic and debilitating condition where she mixes bits of common phrases and similes. I.E, she never says "these are dry as a bone", she always says "these are dry as old boots".
My old boss once said "I'll put all the eggs out on the table" and "I scratch my back, and you scratch yours"
-
I don't think this is an eggcorn or a malapropism however one of our volunteers informed me the other day upon hearing that I was feeling sore from climbing that I needed;
"Rubbing down with a pork chop"....
She had no idea where it came from but apparently her old boss used to say it a lot...
-
Our Sal has somewhat of a repuation for this at work:
'as white as the ace of spades'
'slept like a light'
'whatever swings your boat'
'a reconstructed cheesecake'
'30 degree burns'
'390 degree turn'
'every night's a school night'
'calm your beans'
'hold your beans'
'she'd go to the opening of a stamp'
'that'll kill some birds'
:slap:
-
I don't think this is an eggcorn or a malapropism however one of our volunteers informed me the other day upon hearing that I was feeling sore from climbing that I needed;
"Rubbing down with a pork chop"....
She had no idea where it came from but apparently her old boss used to say it a lot...
Does rubbing down with a pork chop come with a ‘happy ending?’
-
Reading this thread has become one of my favourite past times.
-
A friend needed some paint thinner so went off to Manby's in Widnes.
"I'm looking for some turps, have you got any?"
"Halfway down the end aisle".
But there wasn't any. He went back.
"Sorry, I couldn't find it. Are you sure it's there?"
"Halfway down the end aisle"
Still none there. He went back. The shop assistant, now in a huff for having to leave the till, leads him to halfway down the end aisle.
"There! Turps!", he declared crossly, pointing at the tape measures.
"Thanks... do you have any turpentine?"
-
Have we had the simple yet totally pervasive "of" instead of "have" yet? When spoken, I can just about live with it, but to see it written down makes me despair. How can the education system have failed someone so badly that they do not know how to use such a fundamentally important word as "of"?
Another one from a work email: "...would satisfy some of the concerns that have been banded around".
:wall:
-
I used to work with a project manager who was the master of the management speak / mangled metaphor cocktail.
Two of my favourites of his were:
1. When apologising to someone whose project hadn't been progressed to their liking:
"I'm sorry - think this one just fell off the back burner"
(like the idea that it was such a low priority, it was on the back burner already, then we paid it so little attention that it fell off. And we still didn't notice.)
2. Speaking after a slightly tetchy meeting with a supplier:
"They're just trying to pigeon-hole us into a corner"
(whoa - now that is a bad negotiating position!)
-
Did you manage to keep a straight face?
-
From a meeting yesterday...
"they do a lot of blue cloud thinking"
Noted this one down with a carefully concealed smirk :whistle:
-
Some top draw egg samples.
-
From work yesterday: "They haven't battered an eyelid".
-
Heard a good one yesterday. "I'd asked for that pacifically".
-
Manager in meeting yesterday;
"So, in the most simpleton terms" (glances were exchanged around the room)
-
Heard a good one yesterday. "I'd asked for that pacifically".
Depends. Either they asked for it calmly, or it's an eggcorn.
-
I think Torturous is often used when in fact folks mean to say Tortuous.
e.g. "its a torturous drive over the snake pass"
Though to be fair, being stuck doing 29mph behind someone who hasn't realised that putting their headlights on full beam offers them a much better view of the road ahead can be a form of mental torture.
-
I think Torturous is often used when in fact folks mean to say Tortuous.
e.g. "its a torturous drive over the snake pass"
Though to be fair, being stuck doing 29mph behind someone who hasn't realised that putting their headlights on full beam offers them a much better view of the road ahead can be a form of mental torture.
:o
I knew this was coming - the time when I would have to fess us to being guilty of something featured on this thread. But thank God I now know that "tortuous" is a word.
-
Heard a good one yesterday. "I'd asked for that pacifically".
Depends. Either they asked for it calmly, or it's an eggcorn.
True, true. Although I sense the subject in question wouldn't be aware of that word.
-
tortuous is news to me too - thanks SamT. Another demon someone helped me to exercise relatively recently was sliver vs slither. As in, I thought it was a thin slither of cake. When spoken in Hullish they're pronounced the same so can probably tribute it to that.
-
Another demon someone helped me to exercise relatively recently
Fantastic.
-
Another demon someone helped me to exercise relatively recently
Fantastic.
I can't tell whether this is intentional or not. In either case it gets a wad point.
-
Likewise, benefit of doubt either way.
-
dunno what your on about :whistle:
-
tortuous is news to me too - thanks SamT. Another demon someone helped me to exercise relatively recently was sliver vs slither. As in, I thought it was a thin slither of cake. When spoken in Hullish they're pronounced the same so can probably tribute it to that.
Double eggcorn? They’re pronounced the same so you can probably tribute attribute it to that
-
I read in the Guardian yesterday about Geoffrey Cox giving his legal view 'in no certain terms'.
About what you'd expect from a government minister I guess.
-
Just on the radio "well I wasn't the sharpest spanner in the box"?!
This has all reminded me of the string of total cunts I've worked with over the years. Having 'wash up meetings', 'singing from the same spreadsheet', 'taking proaction' it just goes on and on. It's beyond me how any of them are delivered with a straight face. Blissful ignorance to irony I guess...
-
'singing from the same spreadsheet'
This is incredible. May have to start using it.
-
'singing from the same spreadsheet'
This is incredible. May have to start using it.
Someone I worked with came up with this as a joke and slipped it into a meeting amid much sn**gering. Our idiot boss then started using it as a genuine thing. Unbelievable
-
Looks like a storm's coming so we'd best batter down the hatches.
-
Just seen on Twitter:
'Segways into the current debate'.
An enduring image! I suspect I'll never hear that again without it popping into my head.
-
Brilliant.
Heard earlier today.
"And asked if they would break the note down to smaller denomations"
-
Brilliant, JB.
Not actually an Eggcorn, but a close cousin: Tom Kerridge referred multiple times to The Progidy on Desert Island Discs this morning.
-
'Segways into the current debate'.
:whistle: :-[
-
Just seen on Twitter:
'Segways into the current debate'.
An enduring image! I suspect I'll never hear that again without it popping into my head.
That useless gizmo has ruined a really useful word!
-
Brilliant, JB.
Not actually an Eggcorn, but a close cousin: Tom Kerridge referred multiple times to The Progidy on Desert Island Discs this morning.
I have a friend who appears to believe that the well known Welsh climbing brand is in fact called DNM. He says it every time.
-
I have a friend who appears to believe that the well known Welsh climbing brand is in fact called DNM. He says it every time.
I used to climb with a highly dyslexic mate who said "Piranha" and "Pretzel" instead of, well, you can work it out.
He also once wondered aloud why Five Ten made approach shoes called "Guide Teenies". :lol:
-
"spare of the moment"
-
He also once wondered aloud why Five Ten made approach shoes called "Guide Teenies". :lol:
Been out for three weeks in Japan, where's yours?
(http://nashtag.me/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/paw-patrol-sneakers-toddler-girl-glitter-light-up-big-w.jpg)
-
Just seen on Twitter:
'Segways into the current debate'.
An enduring image! I suspect I'll never hear that again without it popping into my head.
I used this one the other day, the lass called me out saying "WTF"? :-\ I had to go and check, as I had no idea i'd fumbled into an eggcorn. Segued! Segued!
-
He also once wondered aloud why Five Ten made approach shoes called "Guide Teenies". :lol:
Been out for three weeks in Japan, where's yours?
(http://nashtag.me/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/paw-patrol-sneakers-toddler-girl-glitter-light-up-big-w.jpg)
That’s Paw Patrol merch Will.... surprised your nipper didn’t suss that!
-
“He changed his name by depole”.
-
I used to look after a lad in a wheelchair who would often state that ignorant people were bolivious.
Always makes me smile :)
-
"Old timer's disease"
-
You lot are very picky. When someone says somethink slightly wrong, I think for all intensive purposes we can work out what they mean
-
That's a bit lapse for me.
-
Heal hooking.
I'd like to see variants for writing down "gaston" too.
-
Heal hooking.
I'd like to see variants for writing down "gaston" too.
Is that like a Fluid Ounce but bigger?
-
When someone says somethink slightly wrong, I think for all intensive purposes we can work out what they mean
but if the write it down wrong we can lynch them, right?
-
"I’m still non the wiser as to why a slip shop and compromised advisory referendum result is seen as sacrosanct. Any ideas?"
Seen in a Guardian comment this morning.
-
"The central tenant of this is...."
Uttered by a senior colleague yesterday. Finding eggcorns everywhere at the minute!
-
'full gambit of emotions'
-
'full gambit of emotions'
That's a good one, definitely heard that.
-
I think this Tory no confidence motion is a full gone conclusion.
-
Duck Tape
-
Vicer versa
Ying yang
-
Duck Tape
You mean this stuff?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Duck-Tape-Pattern-Colours-Vintage/dp/B01MTF1024/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1544717038&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=duck+tape&psc=1
-
Not an eggcorn, but I'm finding this thread intensely triggering. :chair:
-
aren't a lot of these just spelling mistakes :-\
-
Interesting point- how far from the original does it have to be? I did read a report about an 'unkept' garden today - not unkempt...
Proper eggcorns - aren't they just malapropisms, reinvented?
-
Duck Tape
You mean this stuff?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Duck-Tape-Pattern-Colours-Vintage/dp/B01MTF1024/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1544717038&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=duck+tape&psc=1
As I understand it the name of the brand is a response to the mispronunciation. It’s hard to get to the bottom of it and would seem to be something of a hot topic in America- the Wikipedia page for duct tape is confusing and looks to have been compiled by at least two people with differing beliefs on the etymology of the term.
Obviously it’s gaffer tape over here anyway...
I agree that there are loads of things that are just misspellings/ mispronunciations on this thread that aren’t eggcorns in the proper sense. I’ve certainly posted some. :sorry:
-
Obviously it’s gaffer tape over here anyway...
Gaffer tape most certainly isn't duct tape!
http://www.differencebetween.net/object/difference-between-gaffer-tape-and-duct-tape/
-
It was originally intended for repairing galvanised steel spiral air ducts, in it’s silvered form. They’re prone to rusting and blowing all over.
There was a stickier, tougher, black, version introduced in WW2 for damage control applications and popular with both Ship and Air crews. Known as “Harry Black Maskers”, do not ask why, it just is.
Still in use today.
-
Gaffer tape most certainly isn't duct tape!
http://www.differencebetween.net/object/difference-between-gaffer-tape-and-duct-tape/
:lol: I assumed they were the same and gaffer tape was the British term. Thanks for setting me straight.
-
More a malapropism than a genuine eggcorn, but saw this on a twitter feed:
"Not hard to get the info you type letters into GOOGLE and wallah!!!"
that is unless he was answering a query on "what's the Hindi word for a flunky"!?
-
:lol:
You type your question into Google and the Google wallah on the other end looks in an encyclopedia for you.
-
Glad tidings we bring to you and your king!
-
That reminds me, I need to decorate the tree with ballballs
-
That reminds me, I need to decorate the tree with ballballs
Very “Hudson Hawk”...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PSHT8GnIxnQ (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PSHT8GnIxnQ)
-
I have a friend who appears to believe that the well known Welsh climbing brand is in fact called DNM. He says it every time.
I used to climb with a highly dyslexic mate who said "Piranha" and "Pretzel" instead of, well, you can work it out.
He also once wondered aloud why Five Ten made approach shoes called "Guide Teenies". :lol:
I think there's a lot of people who still call Anasazis, Anastazis.
-
Strider Wasilewski commentating on the Pipe Masters just used the phrase "Julian Wilson has hung on by the hair of his teeth" :please:
-
Strider Wasilewski commentating on the Pipe Masters just used the phrase "Julian Wilson has hung on by the hair of his teeth" :please:
I don’t think weshould be laughing at Mr Wilson’s oral hygiene deficiencies.
-
"It's an eye saw on the street"
-
Just had an email from a lady hoping a funding bid would come off that was ended;
"Fingers cross"
-
Just came across the same one twice in the space of minutes (one was on here!). We may have had this one already, but...
Daring do
(apologies to the culprit here, not meaning to have a go!)
-
Class!!! - :lol: ( ;) )
-
Just came across the same one twice in the space of minutes (one was on here!). We may have had this one already, but...
Daring do
(apologies to the culprit here, not meaning to have a go!)
Funny thing though, it’s not “actually” wrong.*
First recorded use was Chauser in “Troylus And Criseyde”, but he spelled it “Durring” and used “Don” for “do”.
And it means Daring.
(Guess who’s 13 yo daughter is a right geek and currently doing Chauser at school).
* For a given value of wrong.
-
Just heard a great one on a football radio phone in " We need to take the game to them, and go for the juggler"
-
"Anyone fancy bake an egg?"
-
I have just inadvertently said "singing from the same honk sheet" in a conference call, much to the glee of several of my colleagues.
Don't know if it's an eggcorn or a Freudian slip or if I should just hang my head in shame.
-
Here's one, The carrot and the stick.
This is taken to be a reward for doing what you are being told to do (the carrot) versus punishment for not doing it (the stick).
But, for one - a carrot is your reward? Wtf?
But I think this comes from an old cartoon thing. It is somebody sat on a donkey. He is holding a stick out in front of him and dangling from it is a carrot on a string, just out of reach of the donkey. The donkey goes forward, trying to get the carrot, but of course never reaches its desire.
Much funnier as an image, and way more powerful as a metaphor.
The carrot ON the stick.
-
But I think this comes from an old cartoon thing. It is somebody sat on a donkey. He is holding a stick out in front of him and dangling from it is a carrot on a string, just out of reach of the donkey. The donkey goes forward, trying to get the carrot, but of course never reaches its desire.
That's definitely the origin. I imagine that at some point someone came up with the quirky variation of carrot or stick (the humour of which depends on knowing the original meaning) and that for some reason took off so much that lots of people are unaware of the original in the same way that lots of people don't know how to spell "allowed" due to not getting the joke in the name of the band Girls Aloud or slipmat due to the DJ's name.
Or, climbing related, Brad Pit(t).
-
No, no!
The rider has both the carrot and the stick. Tempt with the carrot or beat with the stick. Hence “carrot or the stick” either way you have no choice / present them with no choice.
-
I'm with Matt on this one, the inference is usually that its best to tempt with a carrot, than beat with a stick, but either way, the donkey is going to pull the cart.
-
Another vote for Matt's interpretation. Although even that comes second to Tucker's interpretation...obviously NSFW!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VReU7EgfPLc
-
I'd be tempted to say you are wrong. Carrot and/or the stick is a eggcorn.
-
I'd be tempted to say you are wrong. Carrot and/or the stick is a eggcorn.
Wikipedia seems to think everyone is right, for a given value of right:
“Origin
The earliest English-language references to the "carrot and stick" come from authors in the mid-1800s who in turn wrote in reference to a "caricature" or cartoon of the time that depicted a race between donkey riders, with the losing jockey using the strategy of beating his steed with "blackthorn twigs" to urge it forward, while the winner of the race sits in his saddle relaxing and holding the butt end of his baited stick.[2][3] In fact, in some oral traditions, turnips were used instead of carrots as the donkey's temptation.
Decades later, the device appeared in a letter written by Winston Churchill dated July 6, 1938, worded in such a way as to possibly bolster the "carrot or stick" side of later debates: Churchill writes, "Thus, by every device from the stick to the carrot, the emaciated Austrian donkey is made to pull the Nazi barrow up an ever-steepening hill."[4]
The Southern Hemisphere caught up in 1947 and 1948 amid Australian newspaper commentary about the need to stimulate productivity following World War II.[5][6]
The earliest uses of the idiom in widely available U.S. periodicals were in The Economist's December 11, 1948 issue and in a Daily Republic newspaper article that same year that discussed Russia's economy.[7”
So, the cartoon referenced the “carrot or stick”, the earliest literary references were “and stick”, but common usage is “or”?
-
My understanding of the phrase is more aligned with Matt's. If you want to move a donkey (or change person's behaviour) you can use the threat of punishment (the stick) or offer an incentive (the carrot). Or, you can do both i.e. use the carrot and the stick. I've never thought of it as the carrot on the stick.
I think the way that the phrase is used makes it clear that that's the meaning. We never use "carrot and stick" to refer to offering someone an incentive to do something which they'll never actually get.
-
Don’t know if this one has been done yet - but this blew my mind a little bit just now.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2014/nov/18/mind-your-language-another-think (https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2014/nov/18/mind-your-language-another-think)
-
That’s interesting! Where does it stand in eggcorn terms when what is historically the incorrect phrase has now become far the most common? I’m sticking with Judas Priest 🤘
-
That’s interesting! Where does it stand in eggcorn terms when what is historically the incorrect phrase has now become far the most common? I’m sticking with Judas Priest 🤘
No idea, just stick it in the box with derring do?
Interesting sidebar on "all mouth and trousers" as my mum would say, or "all mouth and no trousers".
-
I assumed this was my queue to leave the conversation.
-
You can drive off in an Arctic lorry.
-
The book stops here.
-
That’s interesting! Where does it stand in eggcorn terms when what is historically the incorrect phrase has now become far the most common? I’m sticking with Judas Priest 🤘
I quite liked JP as a teenager but not heard that one.
In fact never heard of ‘another thing coming’ . It’s semantic nonsense in the context of having to revise your thoughts which is what the phrase has always meant afaik.
-
https://www.sunnewsonline.com/financing-major-obstacle-refineries-rehabilitation-baru-nnpc-gmd/
The two carried out a thorough assessment of the set of the refineries, what needs to be done to the last bolt
-
You can drive off in an Arctic lorry.
I always thought it was Arctic as a kid, and that it applied to refrigerated lorries carrying chilled/frozen goods.
-
Haha, I love it when there's an explanation for an eggcorn which is based in sound logic! Like someone explaining they thought it was damp squid because the calamari batter isn't very crispy.
-
OT, but I once met a lass who said her name was Judith. I asked her if her surname was Prietht. She didn't get it.
-
I had one of those bizarre revelation moments, walking through the storm, on my way home from the school run.
“It’s all swings and roundabouts”. For some reason, I’d always seen it as a statement of duality. Good and bad. Swings, good, roundabouts, bad.
Suddenly dawned on me, at random, that both are negative, pointless, get you nowhere and yet consume a great deal of effort.
Wow, so much darker than I’d grasped.
-
For some reason, I’d always seen it as a statement of duality. Good and bad. Swings, good, roundabouts, bad.
Suddenly dawned on me, at random, that both are negative, pointless, get you nowhere and yet consume a great deal of effort.
You might be reading a bit much into that Matt. It's just a playground-themed version of "comparing apples to oranges" isn't it? Two things that are in the same category, different to each other but only in a subjective way.
-
Some classic nursery rhymes have some dour themes though....
-
For some reason, I’d always seen it as a statement of duality. Good and bad. Swings, good, roundabouts, bad.
Suddenly dawned on me, at random, that both are negative, pointless, get you nowhere and yet consume a great deal of effort.
You might be reading a bit much into that Matt. It's just a playground-themed version of "comparing apples to oranges" isn't it? Two things that are in the same category, different to each other but only in a subjective way.
Isn't more that there's not much to chose between them in the end, like "six of one and half a dozen of the other"?
-
I looked it up.
Originally, the phrase was “what you gain on the swings, you lose on the roundabouts”. So it’s origin was slightly less negative than “one step forward, two steps back”.
But not as positive, as “two steps forward, one step back”...
😜
-
That's what I was aiming - it comes out the same in the end.
-
"On tenderhooks."
Just heard this in a meeting and prompted me to explore what 'tenterhooks' actually are:
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/on-tenterhooks.html (https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/on-tenterhooks.html)
-
Like difference between a "fine toothed comb" (wrong) and a "fine-tooth comb" (correct).
One that's not an eggcorn, more just a weird phrase is "to have one's work cut out for you", meaning that you've got a difficult task ahead.
Assuming the etymology of this is from the tailoring trade, surely someone cutting my work out for me makes the job easier - after all I don't have to cut it out myself?!
And if it's not from tailoring, what job is there where having my work "cut out for me" makes it harder?
-
Like difference between a "fine toothed comb" (wrong) and a "fine-tooth comb" (correct).
One that's not an eggcorn, more just a weird phrase is "to have one's work cut out for you", meaning that you've got a difficult task ahead.
Assuming the etymology of this is from the tailoring trade, surely someone cutting my work out for me makes the job easier - after all I don't have to cut it out myself?!
And if it's not from tailoring, what job is there where having my work "cut out for me" makes it harder?
Surgery
-
Like difference between a "fine toothed comb" (wrong) and a "fine-tooth comb" (correct).
One that's not an eggcorn, more just a weird phrase is "to have one's work cut out for you", meaning that you've got a difficult task ahead.
Assuming the etymology of this is from the tailoring trade, surely someone cutting my work out for me makes the job easier - after all I don't have to cut it out myself?!
And if it's not from tailoring, what job is there where having my work "cut out for me" makes it harder?
My mother told me (citation needed) that is was from tailoring (her mother was tailoress) and that the tailor's assistant has cut out so much work that the tailor would struggle to finish it. She has a tendency for making things up though........
-
Like difference between a "fine toothed comb" (wrong) and a "fine-tooth comb" (correct).
One that's not an eggcorn, more just a weird phrase is "to have one's work cut out for you", meaning that you've got a difficult task ahead.
Assuming the etymology of this is from the tailoring trade, surely someone cutting my work out for me makes the job easier - after all I don't have to cut it out myself?!
And if it's not from tailoring, what job is there where having my work "cut out for me" makes it harder?
My mother told me (citation needed) that is was from tailoring (her mother was tailoress) and that the tailor's assistant has cut out so much work that the tailor would struggle to finish it. She has a tendency for making things up though........
Probably not far off.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-wor1.htm (http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-wor1.htm)
-
Like difference between a "fine toothed comb" (wrong) and a "fine-tooth comb" (correct).
One that's not an eggcorn, more just a weird phrase is "to have one's work cut out for you", meaning that you've got a difficult task ahead.
Assuming the etymology of this is from the tailoring trade, surely someone cutting my work out for me makes the job easier - after all I don't have to cut it out myself?!
And if it's not from tailoring, what job is there where having my work "cut out for me" makes it harder?
Surgery
Barber
-
Received via email yesterday;
"..this time would enable the client to climatise sufficiently."
-
Like difference between a "fine toothed comb" (wrong) and a "fine-tooth comb" (correct).
One that's not an eggcorn, more just a weird phrase is "to have one's work cut out for you", meaning that you've got a difficult task ahead.
Assuming the etymology of this is from the tailoring trade, surely someone cutting my work out for me makes the job easier - after all I don't have to cut it out myself?!
And if it's not from tailoring, what job is there where having my work "cut out for me" makes it harder?
Surgery
Barber
Gardener
-
My colleague just said "It's a complete mix-mash" ;D I kind of like how appropraite that one is.
-
Like difference between a "fine toothed comb" (wrong) and a "fine-tooth comb" (correct).
One that's not an eggcorn, more just a weird phrase is "to have one's work cut out for you", meaning that you've got a difficult task ahead.
Assuming the etymology of this is from the tailoring trade, surely someone cutting my work out for me makes the job easier - after all I don't have to cut it out myself?!
And if it's not from tailoring, what job is there where having my work "cut out for me" makes it harder?
Surgery
Barber
Gardener
Editor
Hence the phrase "didn't make the cut"
-
I thought I'd spotted one in the Guardian today when someone spoke about Uber applying a "surge charge" - but turns out that is exactly what Uber call a surcharge.
-
I have many floors, pedantry is one of them. It's a relief to admit that; it's a real weight off my chest.
-
Is it not a surge charge surcharge?
-
Is it not a surge charge surcharge?
Technically it’s not a price on top of something - the whole price changes or ‘surges’ during peak/busy times. Dynamic pricing innit.
-
Have we had "to set a president" yet?
-
No, I'd like to set a president in concrete though. Preferably the present one.
-
Just seen a good one on farcebook "no one battered an eyelid"
-
Have you never eaten battered eyelids then?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5ofIBw3uMM
-
Just heard "Longfaluted". A kind of eggcorny mix of convoluted and highfalutin. ;D
-
portmanteau surely - long winded + highfalutin ?
-
I'll ask the culprit what they meant tomorrow. To be honest I think they just "misspoke".
-
From our own correspondent:
I'm not that ofay with quieter options
-
I was just reading an American novel published in 1969 that used the obviously correct "I couldn't care less." Which got me wondering. Turns out "I couldn't care less" was only imported from Britain in 50s and began to be replaced by the illogical "I could care less" from the 60s onwards. So there you go.
-
I was just reading an American novel published in 1969 that used the obviously correct "I couldn't care less." Which got me wondering. Turns out "I couldn't care less" was only imported from Britain in 50s and began to be replaced by the illogical "I could care less" from the 60s onwards. So there you go.
'I could care less' makes my blood boil. It just makes no bloody sense in the context.
"Aren't you late for that meeting?"
"Ah well, I could care less", ergo you actually care quite a lot. Arghhh!
-
I don’t know.
“I could care less”, doesn’t necessarily imply that the speaker cares a lot, merely that they could care less. Perhaps it’s ironic, as in “I could care less, but that would be difficult”.
Still, a fucking irritating thing to say, so I definitely could care less...
-
Radio 1 DJ read out a text and said "self-depreciating". Not sure if the text was wrong, or her. Probably her, it was that really dozy one.
-
Overheard in team meeting this morning;
"its a case of the horse door and bolted!!"
-
I hope everyone here (except pete) has signed that partition
-
Radio 1 DJ read out a text and said "self-depreciating". Not sure if the text was wrong, or her. Probably her, it was that really dozy one.
9
I may have missed something there, but...
“Self Deprecating”, might be the better form, but “Self Depreciating ” is a valid phrase of similar meaning:
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/self-depreciating (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/self-depreciating)
-
I stand corrected! Never ever heard it used.
-
I stand corrected! Never ever heard it used.
I nominate myself for pedantic arsehole of the day....
-
Second that.
-
Nasal gazing?
https://mobile.twitter.com/PropertySpot/status/1101074031569178624 (https://mobile.twitter.com/PropertySpot/status/1101074031569178624)
-
https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2019/04/hardest_crack_line_yet_for_the_wide_boyz_-_black_mamba_514b-71917
In terms of sections, it breaks down into a 10m hand crack into a short Bombay horizontal body slot
Bomb bay surely? as in the slot in the bottom of a bomber's fuselage where the bombs fall out.
-
I reckon so, but you just never know with some of the terminology that lot come up with.
-
Like the spicy mix of nuts and crispy bits that WW2 airmen took into the skies to keep themselves going?
-
https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2019/04/hardest_crack_line_yet_for_the_wide_boyz_-_black_mamba_514b-71917
In terms of sections, it breaks down into a 10m hand crack into a short Bombay horizontal body slot
Bomb bay surely? as in the slot in the bottom of a bomber's fuselage where the bombs fall out.
I believe there were often a lot of horizontal bodies in Bombay, though I understand that sanitation has improved.
-
Like the spicy mix of nuts and crispy bits that WW2 airmen took into the skies to keep themselves going?
Maybe because you need to Duck at that point?
-
It’s French:
‘bombé’ means bulge. eg ‘Le bombé bleu’ above la Plage at Buoux- still not done?
-
It’s bombé if you’re describing a bulging overhang that looks like this this (http://www.ewindandsolar.com/i/2015/03/hooker-furniture-living-room-melange-nina-bombe-chest-with-blue-colour-and-wall-art-lane-love-chest-bombe-chest-for-sale-bombe-chest-silver-bombe-chest-black-bombay-chest-mirrored-bombe.jpg) but if you’re describing a bottomless chimney that looks like this (http://i2.wp.com/theaviationist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/KH-55-cruise-missile-from-Tu-160.jpg) it’s pretty obvious that it’s bomb bay. One use developed in France, one in the states, neither in India. ;D
-
https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2019/05/jim_pope_-_through_and_through-71957
With mentors Gaz Parry and Gavin Symonds in toe
Sounds uncomfortable.
-
My wife just had a good one from a German colleague. A ‘different cattle of fish’.
-
In googling to check that "Shot across the bows" was a very minor eggcorn, Google autocomplete threw up an entirely different order of mistake.
"Shot across the bowels".
-
In googling to check that "Shot across the bows" was a very minor eggcorn
It's not, is it?
-
No
-
I think, strictly speaking, you should probably be saying shot across the bow. Ships only have a single bow and I presume that each warning shot fired would be against a single ship. Matt will be along in a moment to correct me on both of those points, I expect.
-
there's a port bow and starboard bow - something passing in front would be referred to as crossing the bows
-
What if it were a catamaran?
-
Shit!
-
Shit!
Thats generally done in the heads. I'm sure thats a plural - no idea why.... OMM? :)
-
I'm speculating, but maybe from catheads?
-
I think you guys are talking at cross porpoises.
-
Worth a bump. Today I saw an advert on Facebook Marketplace for a second-hand Michael Wave: a box with a turntable that heats up food.
:jaw:
-
Shit!
Thats generally done in the heads. I'm sure thats a plural - no idea why.... OMM? :)
Because they were usually at the head of the ship, or bow (not bows, though it might be a fleet engagement). The Officers being accommodated aft of the mast (or Main Mast if more than one (also referred to as the “After Guard”)), sailors accommodated forward of the mast (hence phrases such as “20 years before the mast etc). So, the shit was as far from the Officers as could be arranged.
Amusingly enough, though, the Poop deck, was aft...
(https://i.ibb.co/nMTZvtD/04-D68027-2255-4290-BE3-B-03-EB8-B46-FA14.jpg)
-
Wife, (not native), showed me this on the nursery whatsapp group, (provenance of other woman unknown), talking about chicken pox:
Yes we need to 'per pear' for them all getting it
she had added the quotes in the message so not autocorrect
-
Mum came up with "faffle" today - faff & hassle. She was convinced it existed.
-
:thumbsup: It does now.
-
I've used "squalitude" (squalid solitude) to describe my more dissolute phases. With lock-down and WFH, it's a portmanteau that I suspect now has more general application!
-
My wife once used the word lumbersome, which I asserted was a made up portmanteau of cumbersome and lumbering. A vigorous dispute ensued. Imagine my disappointment to learn it is actually a word.
-
on that subject, my daughter loves huggles. Who can resist.
-
My step daughter is named Lily.
Her mum is not even slightly religious, nor interested at all in anything similar.
Lily was 3 when I moved in. Her mum often called her “Bub Bubs”.
But, frequently, “Le-el-zee-bub”.
Which I, of course, misheard.
However, given the tantrums, I felt “Prince of Hell” wasn’t inappropriate.
Took me far too long to realise her mum had no idea who Beelzebub was.
-
Spotted this corker on the other channel today:
"more people travelling just a bit further, especially to honeypots, sends a signal to everyone else that it’s fine (socially acceptable) to do what you like. That creates a snowboard effect."
Sounds exciting!
-
Spotted this corker on the other channel today:
"more people travelling just a bit further, especially to honeypots, sends a signal to everyone else that it’s fine (socially acceptable) to do what you like. That creates a snowboard effect."
Sounds exciting!
I'm trying to picture a "snowboard effect". Thinking spliffs, beanies, baggy pants (although I think the cool kids these days are rocking skinnies?).
Or maybe everyone gets out their cars, then sits in the middle of the path tying their shoelaces?
(I'm allowed to take the piss, I've snowboarded for years, when I'm not skiing)
-
Maybe people not used to bouldering on steep ground and ending up sliding downhill on their pads?
-
My wife told me yesterday that one of her work colleagues is a "phantom of knowledge".
-
beautiful.
-
Not quite an Eggcorn, but a member of staff texted he was 'shitting through an ivory needle' the other week, calling in sick (again ::))
We suggested he'd miss quoted and he was insitant it was 'nah its Nottingham Slang'. I think not. :lol:
-
Brilliant. Definitely an eggcorn.
Unless of course they're referring to the well-known biblical verse: it is easier for a midlander to shit through an ivory needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
-
"Bare in mind", they said.
"Yes", I thought.
-
My other half only learned in her 30s that it's "baubles" not "ball-balls" that you hang on Christmas trees.
-
"Bare in mind", they said.
"Yes", I thought.
Am I missing something? How do you know they were spelling it wrong in their head?
-
"Bare in mind", they said.
"Yes", I thought.
Am I missing something? How do you know they were spelling it wrong in their head?
I haven't been entirely truthful. It was written, not spoken.
-
Our 5 year old has been a source of some beautiful Eggcorns in recent years.
"Water-tall" for waterfall, which it is, obviously.
"Heart beep" for heartbeat.
And my favourite: "frogs-born" for frogspawn. :'(
-
All perfectly sensible.
-
My 4 yo daughter keeps going to her room for a "Piece of Quiet"
Lovely stuff
-
That's great. Almost belongs at the Roaches.
-
There was one on ukc about ‘paying devil’s advocate’ the other day.
-
There was one on ukc about ‘paying devil’s advocate’ the other day.
£666p/h?
-
I like saying playing the devil's avocado, or playing the Dick Advocaat (which raises less amusement as he becomes more obscure).
-
Brian Bilston
On Tender Hooks
Let me cut to the cheese:
every time you open your mouth,
I’m on tender hooks.
You charge at the English language
like a bowl in a china shop.
Please nip it in the butt.
On the spurt of the moment,
the phrases tumble out.
It’s time you gave up the goat.
Curve your enthusiasm.
Don’t give them free range.
The chickens will come home to roast.
Now you are in high dungeon.
You think me a damp squid:
on your phrases I shouldn’t impose.
But they spread like wildflowers
in a doggy-dog world,
and your spear of influence grows.
-
Our neighbours daughter (in her 20's) has spent her whole life referring to frog eggs as "frogs born".
-
Our neighbours daughter (in her 20's) has spent her whole life referring to frog eggs as "frogs born".
That is perfect
-
The all-powerful YouTube algorithm came up with this from Dave Gorman this morning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78UnTO-emCg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78UnTO-emCg)
-
Great. Saw Dave Gorman last year, very good, and the most beardy men in chequered shirts I've ever seen in one place
I was walking with my family the other week, when my stepdad's dog was a bit aggressive to our dog, which is apparently unusual because normally around other dogs "she doesn't batter an eyelid"
-
A shop in Leamington had a display of aubergines labelled "over-jeans".
-
A shop in Leamington had a display of aubergines labelled "over-jeans".
:clap2:
You win.