A torcherous eggcorn
Seán Fitzpatrick
grendel.jjf at VERIZON.NET
Sat Dec 15 22:15:10 UTC 2007
I sent Mark Peter's "lack toast and tolerant" to my sister, a physician.
Years ago she reported patients at the ER of a slum hospital talking about
their "sick-as-hell anemia". She replied that medical transcriptionists are
a fertile source of eggcorns, and they are now digital as well as human.
Most are amusing only to people familiar with the correct form; her current
favorite:
'vaginal vortex delivery' . Presumably the baby spins out of
control. The correct term is 'vaginal vertex delivery' meaning
'head first'.
It was her daughter who added to family folklore when she returned from
McDonald's and announced that she had had "chicken maggots".
Seán Fitzpatrick
Its a Gnostic thing. You wouldn't understand.
http://www.logomachon.blogspot.com/
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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