Eggcorn?

[Laurence Horn]

At 1:24 PM +0100 5/24/07, Chris F Waigl wrote:
>Charles Doyle wrote:
>>That is, "nip in the bud" + "bite on the ass"?
>>
>>--Charlie
>>
>>>Date: Thu, 24 May 2007 04:43:10 -0700
>>>From: Margaret Lee <mlee303 at YAHOO.COM>
>>>Subject: Eggcorn?
>>>
>>>A couple of day ago on CNN, a former radio talk show host (can't
>>>recall his name) who has recently been suspended for offensive
>>>language regarding Jews, said in an interview that the powers that
>>>be are now trying to nip offensive radio language "in the but(t)".
>>>Is this interpretation of "nip in the bud" an eggcorn? I had not
>>>heard this use before.
>>>
>>>  Margaret
>>>
>>
>>
>
>It is in the Eggcorn DB

I'm especially fond of Ben's cite at #135:
"We don't want to play around," he said. "Teams like that, you can't
play around because they're the kind that can nip you in the butt at
any time, so you want to put them away early." (Winchester Star, Oct.
26, 2004)

>and was mentioned a few times in articles. I'm convinced it's a
>perfectly fine eggcorn -- someone thinking of butts, not buds.
>
>Chris Waigl
>
 From the same creative minds that brought you "butt naked" (598,000
raw g-hits).

LH

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