"Died in the Wool"

[sagehen]

>arnold writes:
>
>there are two murder mystery novels with the title Died in the Wool,
>one set on a sheep farm in new zealand, the other having to do with
>knitting.
>
>there are also a fair number of occurrences of "died in the wool" for
>"dyed in the wool".  these could, of course, just involve the common
>misspelling "die" for "dye".  it's hard for me to see how death might
>be seen as somehow involved in the idiom, so i'm reluctant to
>classify it as an eggcorn.
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~
But does it take a particular kind of misunderstanding  for a misuse to
qualify as an eggcorn?  I can see that "died in the wool," having a kind of
thoroughgoing  (what could be more thorough than death?)  implication might
lead to the expression's being seen as only slightly opaque -- like a lot
of old sayings.  We might all be said to have some rather woolly-minded
corners of our understanding!
Alison
>


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