all that and a (mere) bag o' shells

[Laurence Horn]

A candidate for the eggcorn database?

This appeared in last Sunday's A Word A Day letters column:

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From: Philip Viener (keepervATatt.net)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--bagatelle

During this last American football season, I heard a television sports
commentator refer to the fine one player was assessed by the National Football
League for some on-field misconduct as being a "mere bag of shells" to him. An
amusing malapropism, but I did find myself liking the mis-spoken phrase.
There's a certain whimsical quality that makes it equivalent to the original
word. Of course, in some cultures, a bag of shells would have significant
value, so it wouldn't work everywhere.
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I found some additional examples on google, e.g.

http://www.askmen.com/dating/doclove_200/244_relationship_expert.html
uncounted relationships have survived an age gap that makes yours
with Meryl seem like a mere bag of shells

and there are some references to a Honeymooners episode that plays on
this malapropism/eggcorn:  Ralph is competing on the (imaginary) quiz
show "The 99,000 Answer" in the category of popular songs and after
going out on the first question pronounces:  "$600?  A mere bag of
shells."

But it seems (to me) as though many of the googled instances are
unselfconscious innovations independently arrived at.

Larry

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