[ADS-L] a >> the *and more*

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

I have only heard this in the South of the USA; it seems to me to be quite 
common in North Carolina. Maybe the DARE people can help.

In a message dated 9/1/06 2:37:35 PM, zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU writes:


> geoff nunberg sent me a query yesterday about "all of the sudden" for
> "all of a sudden".  turns out that this one's in Brians and Garner
> and a pile of on-line advice material.  a number of commenters on the
> eggcorn database have suggested it as a possible eggcorn.  and it's
> frequent and widespread -- over a million raw webhits, from all over
> the place:
> 
> I all of the sudden feel stupid..
> mb.sparknotes.com/mb.epl?b=2417&m=1186618&t=299364
> 
> is there anyreason why my RSS feed would fail all of the sudden?
> www.pixelpost.org/forum/showthread.php?t=85
> 
> All Of The Sudden, Mel Gibson Doesn't Seem So Bad. More tolerance and
> promotion of diversity, courtesy of the anti-war left.
> www.blogmosis.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-view.cgi/1/entry/32800
> 
> the OED entry for "sudden" has a subentry for "of a sudden"
> 'suddenly' that notes this was in fact earlier "of the sudden", a
> variant that is now obsolete (1590 is their last cite).  the modern
> occurrences are mostly of "all of a sudden" -- unmodified "of a
> sudden" is just impossible for me -- though there's an 1890 cite from
> Arthur Conan Doyle.
> 
> presumably the occurrences of "all of the sudden" that are all over
> the place these days involve later replacements of "a" by "the", and
> are not survivals of long-ago "the".  but the question is worth
> looking at.
> 
> i'd somehow missed "all of the sudden" until yesterday, though i was
> aware of "all on a sudden", which gets about 33,200 raw webhits:
> 
> ... as he sat on the shore with his rod, looking at the sparkling
> waves and watching his line, all on a sudden his float was dragged
> away deep into the ...
> podcasts.yahoo.com/series?s=cd5e72f9215e8c4d537b630b24c33ac3
> 
> the sea, all on a sudden, began to roar, and rise in billows; the
> birds flew about astonished; the cattle ran crying in the fields;
> and ...
> www.theamericanview.com/index.php?id=17
> 
> Maradona is a player of that class who can change the environment all
> on a sudden just being himself present.
> www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldcup/2006/06/maradona_mayhem.html
> 
> the OED lists "on/upon a/the sudden" but labels them archaic.  most
> of the cites i've looked at either have a somewhat old-fashioned tone
> to them (to my ears) or come from Indian sources (the expressions may
> have survived in Indian English).  (the OED also lists the obsolete
> variants "at a/the sudden" and "in a sudden".)
> 
> at this point i wondered if "a" had been replaced by "the" in other
> idiomatic expressions.  i looked for "once in the while" (for "once
> in a while") and got 746 raw webhits
> 
> Every once in the while the color goes very blue on the Old Faithful
> WebCam image. Why?
> www.nps.gov/yell/tours/livecams/oldfaithful/problems.htm
> 
> Working Stiff is a webzine that aims to help average working people
> put in fewer hours for more pay and win arguments with the boss once
> in the while.
> www.google.com/Top/Society/Work/Labor-Management_Relations/
> 
> And thanks for the reminder. I need a good kick in pants every once
> in the while on this topic.
> mytopography.com/2006/08/25/friday-notebook/
> 
> this time the OED has no "the" variant (though it gives "once and a
> while" as an "occasional" variant; "once and a while" is already in
> the eggcorn database: http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/english/264/once-
> and-a-while/).
> 
> "once in the while" isn't in MWDEU, Brians, Garner, Trask, Fiske.
> Garner does list "once in while" and "once and while" as manglings of
> "once in a while", though.  "once in while" gets an impressive
> 130,000 raw webhits:
> 
> After the conclusion of proceedings one juror was heard to say "Every
> once in while you get the chance to do the right thing. We did it in
> there today.
> www.indymedia.ie/article/77477
> 
> Every once in while, a person will do something obvious and direct
> that is no more than it appears to be.
> www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/stevenbrus205318.html
> 
> How about that we would meet for lunch once in while, ...
> wyona.com/pipermail/phoenix/2006-August/000406.html
> 
> and "once and while" gets 51,900:
> 
> Technology comes in handy once and while...
> signsneversleep.blogspot.com/2004/08/technology-comes-in-handy-once-
> and.html
> 
> Everyone screws up once and while. F
> www.theamsterdam.us:10000/index.php?p=41
> 
> ... near as thin as girls like the olsen twins. they don't eat
> "hamburgers every once and while". they have to hardly eat anything
> to look like that!
> www.celebrities-eating.com/2006/05/ashley-olsen.html
> 
> oi!  it then occurred to me to check "once and the while" (combining
> in >> and and a >> the), and yes, there are a few occurrences:
> 
> There are natives that have evolved to live in damp soils such as
> Culver's root, Mallows, etc., I water those once and the while and
> plant them closest to ...
> forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/prairie/msg10131830965.html?3
> 
> Just keep your ears clean and rinse off your tips every once and the
> while and you will have no problems whatsoever...
> forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-144630.html
> 
> If Jewish invasion and occupation affords an extra loaf once and the
> while at cost of my children getting murdered by Israeli troops and
> Jewish degradation ...
> www.jewishtribalreview.org/johnson2.htm
> 
> 
> 
> any other candidates for a >> the?  (or the reverse).  these aren't
> things you can search for directly.  you have to think of a larger
> idiom and then search on it.
> 
> oh dear, a fair number (a few hundred) of "once in the blue moon"
> hits, like this one:
> 
> Question 1: How often do you feel your partner doesn't really know
> who you are? Most of the time. Sometimes. Once in the blue moon. Never.
> www.allthetests.com/redirect.php3?siteid=12532
> 
> so no doubt there are a lot more.
> 
> arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)
> 
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> 
> 

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