September 2010
1 post
eggcorn of the day #4
Observed:
“… but even tropical force winds can wreck havoc.”
Here, “wreck havoc” is an eggcorn of “wreak havoc.” As the entry in the Eggcorn Database suggests, this non-homophonic substitution likely began with persons reading the phrase, not hearing it spoken.
In context of the original phrase, the verb “to wreak” signifies “To cause...
August 2010
2 posts
March 2010
1 post
usage note #2
“secession” vs. “cessation”
Observed:
“In these cases [the interveners] would be more interested in continuation, rather than secession, of hostilities, and the longer peace deals last the less successful their actions would actually be.”
The OED defines “secession” as:
1. a. The action or an act of going away from one’s accustomed...
June 2009
5 posts
2 tags
eggcorn of the day #3
Observed:
“You are in touch with your inner-self, feelings, and deep-seeded emotions, and love to express them with music and art.”
In this sentence, “deep-seeded emotions” is an eggcorn of “deep-seated emotions.”
The Eggcorn Database documents this substitution, citing Mark Liberman of the Language Log:
And in terms of the current ordinary-language meaning...
2 tags
eggcorn of the day #2
Although this one may be merely the result of sloppy typing coupled with overzealous spellchecker usage, I prefer to think of it as an eggcorn.
Observed:
“[L]ess than a year later he found his readers also wanted to learn more about Photoshop so launched a new blog for that and with in a couple years he now has over a dozen blog’s earning up woods of a million dollars a year.”
...
4 tags
dialect/usage note #1
might could
Observed:
“[I]f anyone’s doing a caravan from around this area, we might could join up.”
“[Chris] thinks he might could use a jam session fairly soon.”
Growing up in the Southwestern United States, I had never heard the “might could” construction until I moved to the South a few years ago. Depending on the context, this double modal may be...
4 tags
word of the day #1
procrustean, Procrustean (adj.)
This is a word much beloved by political scientists, often used to criticize one another for too-rigid theoretical (or even epistemological) frameworks.
The OED defines “Procrustean” as “resembling the practices of Procrustes […]; (hence) enforcing uniformity or conformity without regard to natural variation or individuality,” and...
3 tags
eggcorn of the day #1
Observed:
“If you think a proposal on facebook is sufficient, you got another thing coming!”
“[to have] another thing coming” is an eggcorn of the colloquial phrase “to have another think coming.” The earliest usage cited by the OED is an entry in Vol. XII (1937) of the journal American Speech, in which “to have another think coming” communicates...