11.02.08

The eggcorn doesn’t fall far from the treat

Posted in spelling, word misuse at 12:12 pm by Bill Brohaugh

I’ve been doing some thinging . . .

No, that’s not a typo. But this is:

If John McCain’s supporters are hoping for a “Bradley effect” bounce on Election Day, some pollsters and strategists say they may have another thing coming.

Another Thing is coming?! Two versions of the science fiction horror classic aren’t enough?!

All right. That’s a little silly. Sure, in this instance, the thing is indeed a horrible manifestation, but a verbal one known as an eggcorn—a misheard word (taking its name from a mishearing of acorn.

People who think one way, according to the cliche, have another think coming—a bit of verb/noun wordplay. The thing/think misuse is unfortunately widespread: Google search returns 160,000 hits (though fewer than I’d expected).

While we’re on the topic of hatching eggcorns:

Plouffe said the campaign is pleased that a large part of the early vote so far is coming from sporadic and new voters. “The dye is being cast even as we speak,” he said.

Is casting dye kind of like slinging mud? And is it clothing dye? Hair dye? Princess Dye?

Well, I’m getting silly again. But the eggcorn here is equally silly. The “dye” being cast is a “die.” And it is not the manufacturing die (which is cut, not cast), though once a die has been cut, the product has been preordained, as it were. But the preordination comes in rolling a die—the singular of dice. Once you have cast a die, the outcome is out of your hands. In this case, the eggcorn is visual, as Mr. Plouffe likely didn’t specify the spelling of the word die when he spoke it. Though he’d have been doing the writer a favor if he had.

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