eggcorn: "profound" (profane) words

[Landau, James]

-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Preston [mailto:preston at MSU.EDU]
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 8:07 AM
Subject: Re: eggcorn: "profound" (profane) words

One phonaesthetic argument put forward some time ago (forgot the
reference) is that ethnic slurs and obscenities are full of velars,
voiceless velars in particular. Plenty of exceptions (which, as many
have pointed out, only prove the rule), but not enough to challenge the
generalization it seems to  me. Anybody remember this? I'd like to
retrieve the reference?

dInIs


Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48864 USA

----my reply-----
Is it possible that, given English phonemes, a velar can carry somewhat
further than other phonemes in a noisy mob scene?  In that case a
survival of the fittest phenomenon occurs, as those epithets that carry
best over a mob's noise are more easily heard therefore get repeated
more often, etc.

    James A. Landau
    test engineer
    Northrop-Grumman Information Technology
    8025 Black Horse Pike, Suite 300
    West Atlantic City  NJ  08232  USA

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