Wife's eggcorn

[Laurence Horn]

At 2:02 PM -0800 1/3/06, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>"Son of a whore" is old in English, older perh. than "son of a bitch."
>
>   I heard it once or twice in New England about thirty years ago,
>and the recent fictional exx. I've seen are all from that area -
>esp. from Maine.
>
>   JL

cf. Shakespeare's "whoreson cur"; I can't recall his using "son of a
bitch" type slurs.  "whoreson" seems to have been around in the 14th
century, according to OED cites, although the dates are a bit
uncertain.  Could "son of a bitch" have originated as a euphemism for
"son of a whore" before displacing it (below Kittery)?

Larry

>Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>   ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender: American Dialect Society
>Poster: Wilson Gray
>Subject: Re: Wife's eggcorn
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>I've heard tell that, up - or "down east" - in Maine, men use "son of
>a whore" instead of the standard "son of a bitch" which is like the
>Russian "sukin syn," literally "bitch's son." And, of course, there's
>the "motherfucker," occasionally pseudo-euphemized as "mammyjammer,"
>preferred by gentlemen of color. "Pseudo-" because "mammy" is, in and
>of itself, insulting and "jammer" is pretty much identical to
>"fucker."
>
>-Wilson
>
>
>On 1/3/06, Dennis R. Preston
>wrote:
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>  Sender: American Dialect Society
>>  Poster: "Dennis R. Preston"
>
>>  Subject: Re: Wife's eggcorn
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  Wilson,
>>
>>  These little "phonological euphemisms" have taken many forms over the
>>  centuries to avoid saying the taboo. My favorite has always been the
>>  Polish syllable "kurrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-" pronounced with an elongated
>>  (trilled of course) /r/ and with no hint of final intonation. Finally
>>  the speaker ends with "-cza," rendering "kurcza" (chicken), but the
>>  elongated /r/ makes everyone suspect that the taboo "kurwa" (whore)
>>  is coming up instead.
>>
>>  "Kurwa" is, by the way, used exclamatorily in Polish, like English
>>  "shit," but unlike English "whore."
>>
>>  Prestonski
>>
>>
>>
>>  >I don't know why it's taken me so long to flash on this as an eggcorn,
>>  >but, for years, I've been annoyed by hearing my wife say, when she's
>>  >stressed out:
>>  >
>>  >"I feel like _Dog Chow_!"
>>  >
>>  >"Dog Chow," is, of course, a registered trademark of the
>>  >Ralston-Purina Co. of St. Louis, my beloved home town. What my wife
>>  >is reaching for is, "I feel like dog _shit_!" But what elderly
>>  >gentleman wants to hear the language of a common night walker from the
>>  >lips of his dear wife? So, I've not tried to correct her. (Probably
>>  >not a smoove[sic] move, in any case!)
>>  >
>>  >-Wilson Gray
>>
>>
>>  --
>>  Dennis R. Preston
>>  University Distinguished Professor
>>  Department of English
>>  15-C Morrill Hall
>>  Michigan State University
>>  East Lansing, MI 48824-1036
>>  Phone: (517) 353-4736
>>  Fax: (517) 353-3755
>>  preston at msu.edu
>>
>
>
>
>
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