Eggcorns

October 30, 2015March 16, 2016Hannah McCall 7 Comments

Here’s a modern linguistic term that I really like. An eggcorn is a word or phrase created by mishearing or misinterpreting another. An element of the original is replaced by something that sounds very similar. To be an eggcorn, the word or phrase must sound similar (or identical) to the original and make some sort of sense.

An eggcorn that I have already posted about is on tenderhooks (for on tenterhooks).

https://pixabay.com/en/squirrel-eating-nuts-acorn-forest-61231/

The squirrel doesn’t care how it’s spelt.

If you say ‘acorn’ in a slow drawl (as in the southern US), you will probably find that it sounds a lot like ‘eggcorn’. The spelling eggcorn goes back as far as 1844. It makes sense when you think about it – acorns look a bit like eggs, especially in their cups, and they are produced by a tree while an egg is produced by a chicken or other egg-laying animal (although not in the same way).

‘Egg corn’ was adopted in 2003 by the linguist Geoffrey Pullum as the term for misheard words/phrases of this type. Because it describes a category of words that it is a member of, it is autological.

Source: Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage, Jeremy Butterfield (editor).

‘Flaw’ and ‘floor’

October 26, 2015October 27, 2015Hannah McCall 4 Comments

Flaw:

an imperfection, mark or blemish
a mistake or shortcoming in something that makes it invalid, causes it to fail, or reduces its effectiveness
a fault or weakness in a person’s character.

Floor:

the lower surface of a room
a storey of a building (rooms or areas on the same level)
a flat bottom surface
a minimum limit or level
the part of a legislative hall in which members sit and debate is conducted
the large central hall where trading takes place in a Stock Exchange
to provide a room/area with a floor (or as an adjective e.g. ‘a marble-floored room’)
to have the right to speak in a debate or discussion – ‘have the floor’
to disconcert, baffle or defeat; to knock someone to the ground.

Grandiloquent

October 23, 2015March 16, 2016Hannah McCall 2 Comments

Grandiloquent is usually considered an autological word.

It means pompous, lofty or extravagant in language, style or manner, especially in a way that is intended to impress or attract admiration.

The word’s origin is late 16th century. It stems from the Latin grandiloquus, meaning ‘grand-speaking’. The association with eloquent has altered the ending in English.

Magniloquent is considered a synonym of grandiloquent. And they rhyme.

‘Whine’ and ‘wine’

October 19, 2015October 20, 2015Hannah McCall 8 Comments

I bring you more homophones.

Whine:

a long, high-pitched plaintive cry; a long, high-pitched unpleasant sound
to issue a long, high-pitched cry or sound
a petulant complaint
to whinge or complain.

Wine:

an alcoholic drink produced by the fermenting of grapes (usually with sugar and water)
an alcoholic drink produced by the fermenting of other fruits and flowers (usually with sugar and water)
a dark purplish-red colour.

You can wine and dine someone by offering them (usually lavish) drinks and a meal, or you can wine and dine as you enjoy yourself by eating and drinking.

Thank you to Jeff Curry for suggesting this post.

Pooh-bah

October 16, 2015March 16, 2016Hannah McCall 1 Comment

A pooh-bah is a person who has a lot of power and/or influence. They may hold (but not necessarily fulfill) many offices at the same time, and they are often seen as pompous or self-important.

The word originates from a character in W. S. Gilbert’s The Mikado (1885). In the opera, Pooh-Bah bears the title ‘Lord High Everything Else’; his behaviour matches the definition above.

Follow @proofreaderhan

‘Its’ and ‘it’s’

October 14, 2015March 16, 2016Hannah McCall 15 Comments

When I am proofreading, I often find that it’s is used when its would be correct. I think that this occurs because the writer is thinking about apostrophes as a way to show possession. However, its is a possessive pronoun. It doesn’t need an apostrophe because it is already the possessive form of it.

Its means ‘belonging to it’.

It’s means ‘it is’ or ‘it has’.

The following are also possessives and don’t require an apostrophe: hers, his, mine, yours, theirs and ours.

‘Tire’ and ‘tyre’

October 12, 2015March 16, 2016Hannah McCall 1 Comment

In British English, these are the spellings for two words with different meanings.

Tire:

to reduce the energy of (usually by exertion); to feel or cause to feel in need of sleep/rest
to become bored with or lose interest in something; to exhaust the patience of.

Tyre:

a ring of rubber fitted round the rim of a wheel of a road vehicle to form a soft contact with the road
a band of metal fitted round the rim of a wheel (typically of a railway vehicle).

In American English, tire is the standard spelling for both meanings. Tyre is actually thought to be a variant of the old form tire (a shortening of attire because the tyre was seen as the ‘clothing’ of the wheel).

Thank you to Aeryn Rudel for suggesting this post.

Sesquipedalian

October 9, 2015March 16, 2016Hannah McCall 12 Comments

Here’s a new type of interesting word for this blog – a word that is autological. Autological words are members of or have features of the category they describe. They have or represent the property they denote.

Sesquipedalian means ‘having many syllables’. It can also be used to describe something as given to using long words or being long-winded.

Its origin is mid 17th century, from the Latin sesquipedalis meaning ‘a foot and a half long’.

Follow @proofreaderhan

Are you on tenderhooks?

October 7, 2015March 16, 2016Hannah McCall 5 Comments

No, but you might be on tenterhooks.

If you are on tenterhooks, you are in a state of suspense or agitation because of uncertainty about an event in the future.

Tenterhooks were hooks that held cloth firmly in place on tenters. Tenters were wooden frames used to stretch cloth after it had been milled. They were used so that cloth dried evenly and didn’t shrink.

The first usage of tenterhooks in the sense of suspense can be found in Tobias Smollett’s novel The Adventures of Roderick Random, published in 1748: “I made no reply, but left him upon the tenter-hooks of impatient uncertainty.”