eggcorn? coin-up

Mullins, Bill AMRDEC Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL
Thu Aug 17 16:04:10 UTC 2006


> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society
> [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Gordon, Matthew J.
> Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2006 7:51 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: eggcorn? coin-up
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Gordon, Matthew J." <GordonMJ at MISSOURI.EDU>
> Subject:      eggcorn? coin-up
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------------
>
> Another fun one: coin-up for coin-op, i.e. coin-operated machine.
>
> I saw this originally in reference to an arcade video game machine:
>
> "I was over at a mall near my doctor's office today and I saw
> about 2-3 actual coin ups with a price range between 150-500
> bucks. They weren't anything new , mostly some fighter games
> from the 90's , the most expensive one was a baseball game
> made by sega that looked pretty good."
> from a forum post at www.cheapassgamer.com
>
> Google shows a few more examples in reference arcade machines
> and others referring to car washes, etc.
> e.g.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fast_and_the_Furious
> http://losangeles.citysearch.com/profile/71276/los_angeles_ca/
> laser_coin_car_wash.html
>
> The reanalysis might have roots in video-game arcade culture,
> specifically the practice of reserving the next game on a
> busy machine by putting your quarter(s) up on the cabinet. I
> haven't spent enough time in car washes or laundromats to
> know whether similar etiquette obtains there.
>

Looking at the page about car washes, I think it's simply a typo.  The
rest of the paragraph is full of grammar and spelling mistakes.

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