Eggcorn? - *stent* > *stint*

[Damien Hall]

Not sure whether this qualifies as an eggcorn or not, but I'll put it out there
in case anyone wants to discuss it.  I've just had an e-mail from a friend who
refers to the 'stints' in veins around his heart.  Maybe he has the *pin* -
*pen* merger, which would account for the phonetic part of this mistake.  I'm
struggling a bit with the semantic 'bridge' between *stent* and *stint* that
would be necessary to make this an eggcorn, though it does look to me as if he
has replaced a less-common word with a more-common one, which is often the
motivation for this kind of thing.  Whether it's an eggcorn or not, though,
it's interesting.

Damien Hall
University of Pennsylvania

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