Eggcorn?

[James C Stalker]

Some pop culture impetus to "spreading like wildflowers."  Dolly Parton does
a song in which she maintains that "wildflowers don't care where they grow,"
suggesting moving on, spreading out, etc.  As I was engaged in the manly
ritual of taking out the garbage tonight, I took stock of my yard and
decided that I was going to have to do something about the forget-me-nots,
phlox, and buttercups, which/that are taking over my garden.  They are all
native to Michigan and love the cool weather.  They don't care where they
grow, especially given the fertilizer and watering I've provided.  In fact,
they are spreading like wildflowers.  There seems to be a definition
problem.  What constitutes a "wildflower"?  A delicate thing that needs a
very specific enviornment, or a hardy flower that's cute in the woods but is
a weed in our garden?

Jim


Jonathan Lighter writes:

> The good news is that Google as yet provides no hits for "spreading like wallflowers."
>
> JL
>
> Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Laurence Horn
> Subject: Re: Eggcorn?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 12:33 PM +0100 5/12/05, Michael Quinion wrote:
>>A subscriber has e-mailed me thus: "I am a college instructor, and
>>the other day I was grading papers when I came across this: 'In the
>>early 1960s, rock and roll was spreading like wildflowers.' I found
>>it oddly apt and a little poetic, if totally wrong."
>>
> It may be wrong, but it's spreading like...well, let's see:
>
> "spreading like wildfire" 42,200
> "spreading like wildflowers" 352
>
> Larry
>
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James C. Stalker
Department of English
Michigan State University