Wife's eggcorn

[Jonathan Lighter]

"Son of a whore" is old in English, older perh. than "son of a bitch."

  I heard it once or twice in New England about thirty years ago, and the recent fictional exx. I've seen are all from that area - esp. from Maine.

  JL

Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: Re: Wife's eggcorn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've heard tell that, up - or "down east" - in Maine, men use "son of
a whore" instead of the standard "son of a bitch" which is like the
Russian "sukin syn," literally "bitch's son." And, of course, there's
the "motherfucker," occasionally pseudo-euphemized as "mammyjammer,"
preferred by gentlemen of color. "Pseudo-" because "mammy" is, in and
of itself, insulting and "jammer" is pretty much identical to
"fucker."

-Wilson


On 1/3/06, Dennis R. Preston
wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: "Dennis R. Preston"

> Subject: Re: Wife's eggcorn
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Wilson,
>
> These little "phonological euphemisms" have taken many forms over the
> centuries to avoid saying the taboo. My favorite has always been the
> Polish syllable "kurrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-" pronounced with an elongated
> (trilled of course) /r/ and with no hint of final intonation. Finally
> the speaker ends with "-cza," rendering "kurcza" (chicken), but the
> elongated /r/ makes everyone suspect that the taboo "kurwa" (whore)
> is coming up instead.
>
> "Kurwa" is, by the way, used exclamatorily in Polish, like English
> "shit," but unlike English "whore."
>
> Prestonski
>
>
>
> >I don't know why it's taken me so long to flash on this as an eggcorn,
> >but, for years, I've been annoyed by hearing my wife say, when she's
> >stressed out:
> >
> >"I feel like _Dog Chow_!"
> >
> >"Dog Chow," is, of course, a registered trademark of the
> >Ralston-Purina Co. of St. Louis, my beloved home town. What my wife
> >is reaching for is, "I feel like dog _shit_!" But what elderly
> >gentleman wants to hear the language of a common night walker from the
> >lips of his dear wife? So, I've not tried to correct her. (Probably
> >not a smoove[sic] move, in any case!)
> >
> >-Wilson Gray
>
>
> --
> Dennis R. Preston
> University Distinguished Professor
> Department of English
> 15-C Morrill Hall
> Michigan State University
> East Lansing, MI 48824-1036
> Phone: (517) 353-4736
> Fax: (517) 353-3755
> preston at msu.edu
>




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