this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2024
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Explain Like I'm Five

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[–] ccunning 114 points 1 month ago (2 children)

the old wise tale

Old wives tale. There’s nothing wise about it…

[–] [email protected] 63 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] Zachariah 4 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Yes! Eggcorns is by far the superior term for “alteration of a word or phrase through the mishearing or reinterpretation of one or more of its elements, creating a new phrase having a different meaning from the original but which still makes sense and is plausible when used in the same context.”

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Boneappletea is also an excellent term for a similar thing, where the "new" word or phrase makes no sense and is not plausible when used in the same context.

There will certainly be reasonable disagreements about which description is more apt in a given situation. One that comes to mind is Joey Tribbiani's use and explanation of "a moo point."

[–] Zachariah 3 points 1 month ago

Yeah, I’m just partial to eggcorn (term and concept).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

What's the origin of the term eggcorn? A brief scan of the link didn't answer this for me. Is eggcorn itself an eggcorn?

[–] Zachariah 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

What is it an eggcorn of? Acorn? And what's the origin?

[–] Zachariah 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Oh awesome and very interesting thank you!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago