NBA eggcorn

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Sat, 28 May 2005 23:04:20 -0400, Benjamin Zimmer
<bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU> wrote:

>The San Antonio Spurs are currently demolishing the Phoenix Suns in Game
>3 of the NBA Western Conference Finals.  During the third quarter, ESPN's
>Jim Gray breathlessly reported from the sideline: "I spoke to Mike
>D'Antoni as he just came out here, the Suns head coach -- he said, 'We
>are playing mano on mano.'"
>
>Larry Horn already reported the reinterpretation of "mano a mano" (< Sp.
>'hand to hand') as 'man to man' or 'man on man' ("One good eggcorn
>deserves another," posted 11 Dec 2004). So "mano on mano" transforms a
>covert eggcorn into an overt one.

Now an entry in the Eggcorn Database:

http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/english/370/mano-on-mano/

Comments welcome.


--Ben Zimmer