For the eggcorn file: "halo ground"

[Jonathan Lighter]

They may pronounce it as "hallow" but believe it's somehow the "same word"
as "halo," thus spelling it accordingly.

It doesn't have to make sense.  The weird thing is, it almost does.

JL

On Sun, Aug 29, 2010 at 1:13 PM, geoffrey nunberg <
nunberg at ischool.berkeley.edu> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       geoffrey nunberg <nunberg at ISCHOOL.BERKELEY.EDU>
> Subject:      For the eggcorn file: "halo ground"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "This is coming from the belief that needs of the many out way the needs of
> the few, the many believe Ground Zero is halo ground that should not be
> disrespected by the few who would force their immigrant culture and
> religious beliefs are the many."
>
> "Ground Zero is ‘Halo Ground’ to most Americans and the thought of building
> a mosque so Islamists can celebrate an Islamist attack on U.S. soil makes us
> all shake our heads with 'No, you can’t build it and respect our wishes.'"
>
> "That being said, Arlington is Halo ground in the first place and that goes
> against religon/government thing."
>
> Google turns up quite a few of these, though they're outnumbered by the
> (fortuitous?) homographs of the phrase in its electrical meaning.  Not clear
> if these are all from people who pronounce "halo" to rhyme with "callow."
>
> Geoff Nunberg
>
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