Let’s mock people!
Today, on a message board for one of my graduate courses, someone used the phrase “in this state of age” – as in “In this state of age, I’m suprised we don’t have flying cars.”
I think they meant “In this day and age…”
Anyone else have a good mauling of the English language to share? I joke about it, but I do find it really interesting to note how phrases can morph over time into something completely different.
One example of a phrase morphing to senselessness is the following…
“I couldn’t care less what he thinks.”
turning into
“I could care less what he thinks.”
Now the first means – I couldn’t care less, meaning, well, you couldn’t care less – you care the absolute least possible amount. The second means that, well, you could care less, so you must care a bit. I read about this phrase recently – someone was arguing that the second phrase actually makes more sense – but I can’t recall how that logic worked itself out. Hrm. Words. Tricky.
Apparently this sort of thing is called an Eggcorn. Check out many more of them on The Eggcorn Database.
ostrakos
November 16, 2005The most annoying mauling of the English language, to me, is people’s ignorance of the subjunctive mood.
It’s “If I WERE” not “If I WAS” because it’s a contrary-to-fact condition.
This is evidenced in many places, including songs by the Magnetic Fields and Simon & Garfunkel.
Jen
November 16, 2005DAMN THIER TALENTED EYES.
At least the writers of Fiddler On The Roof got it right, yeah?
ostrakos
November 16, 2005YES!
caseyjames
November 16, 2005Sounds like someone had a case of the eggcorns.
Jen
November 16, 2005ooooh!
http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/
FANTASTIC!
clear_all
November 16, 2005Irregardless, the point is mute.
brokenchinadol
November 16, 2005BOO.
benadrian
November 16, 2005I like how “for all intents and purposes” has turned into
“for all intensive purposes.” I’ve heard this on many ocasions, the first being my own bumbling and lack of knowledge.
drzachary
November 16, 2005The absolute best one is ‘escape goat.’ It’s an eggcorn, as referenced by the handsome Casey James.
caseyjames
November 16, 2005Handsome indeed.
Jen
November 17, 2005I would actually like to see an escape goat. I bet they are fast.
clear_all
November 17, 2005The shop I used to work at sold those.
clear_all
November 17, 2005Also : yeah, they were fast. With a paint job like that, they’d better be.
gonesavage
November 17, 2005youth in asia
When I was little “euthanasia” (sp?) was confused with “Youth In Asia”.
Does this count? And yay on your last semester!, I’m trying to get there at State and it is taking forever!
Jen
December 2, 2011My friend Julie thought that it was “Chester drawers” instead of a “chest of drawers” for much of her life – which makes a lot of sense if you’ve heard of Chippendale or other named furniture.