Tip of the slung or ...

Arnold M. Zwicky zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU
Wed Aug 9 21:47:50 UTC 2006


On Aug 9, 2006, at 8:31 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> eggcorn?
>
>> From The People's Court:
>
> Younger white woman discussing her much-older - by 31 years -
> boyfriend.
>
> "He called me every name under the book."
>
> Eleven examples of this use of "every name under the book" in Google
> among 32 in toto.

hey, have i really beaten out jerry cohen in suggesting this is a
blend, of the idioms "every X under the sun" and "(call s.o.) every
name in the book"?

arnold

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