" Olive, the other reindeer"; was Re: "Trolling" for "Trawling": An Eggcorn?

[Beverly Flanigan]

I have a cartoon from either Dennis the Menace or Family Circus  that uses
this line; I use it in class every year.  But whether it's original or not
I don't know; both cartoons use a lot of word play, so maybe the
cartoonists either made them up or drew from their own family lives.  I
mentioned this years ago here, so it may be documented more fully in the
archives.

At 04:24 PM 8/2/2007, you wrote:
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       "Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at UMR.EDU>
>Subject:      Re: " Olive, the other reindeer"; was  Re: "Trolling" for
>               "Trawling": An Eggcorn?
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Was "Olive, the other reindeer" actually (mis)understood this way by a =
>child (as, e.g. "Pontius Pilot" or "Gladly, the cross-eyed bear") or was =
>this consturction with Olive humorously invented by an adult?
>=20
>Gerald Cohen
>
>________________________________
>
>From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Arnold M. Zwicky, Thu =
>8/2/2007 10:26 AM
>
>
>
>On Aug 1, 2007, at 7:26 PM, Lary Horn wrote:
>
> > Well, we've established that there is such a verb as "troll", with
> > precisely the appropriate meaning, but its currency is severely
> > limited.  Because of this, I wonder if there be young lads and lasses
> > scattered about who have innovated an eggcornish reading of this
> > line, i.e.
> >
> > Troll, the ancient Yuletide carol
> >
> > --alongside its companion,
> >
> > Gladly, the cross-eyed bear
>
>now added to the posting, along with "Olive, the other reindeer".
>
>arnold
>
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