[Ads-l] Another flap-happy eggcorn

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Wed Oct 10 19:03:26 UTC 2018


So we know there are reanalyses prompted by neutralization of intervocalic flapped alveolars.  For “soft-pedal” we have “soft-peddle” (in the ECDB) and “soft-petal” (attested, but not in the ECDB).  I just encountered another one today in a post on The A.V., from a review of Better Call Saul:  “blind-sighted” for “blindsided”.  Yes, blind sight is a thing, and I’ve even read a crime novel titled “Blindsighted”, which was no doubt intended as a pun (the victim is blind, so at least the literal meaning was clearly intended).  But in the context in question, “blindsided” was intended:

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Jimmy’s interview is entirely relatable for any person who has “aced” a job interview. You’ve gone from a job interview to a friendly conversation with the people you want to impress. And it seems like a conversation. And you hear those words “we just have a few more interviews to go, and then we’ll get back to you.” And all of a sudden, you’re blind sighted. And the first thing you want to know is “Can you just tell me what the hell I did wrong, because it seems like we totally hit it off in the conference room.” 
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A subsequent commenter points out the “mondegreen”, and the original commenter concedes the point.

LH
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