FW: blends? eggcorns?

[Baker, John]

        The original article in the Sydney Morning Herald, to which this article refers, puts it as follows, at http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/axe-looms-for-fighter-jets/2007/12/30/1198949675365.html: 

        "Dr Nelson sold the Super Hornet option to cabinet's National Security Committee this year without the co-operation of defence chiefs or undertaking the long due diligence and comparative analysis that usually precedes acquisitions of such scale and expense."

        I think that "long," "due diligence," and "comparative" all modify "analysis."  Dropping "the" and "that usually precedes acquisitions of such scale and expense" made it harder to follow the writer's meaning.


John Baker



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Subject: blends? eggcorns?

http://home.northgrum.com/news_stories_2008/in_010208a.html

Australian Govt to Review Fighter Jet Order Program Dow Jones Newswires December 30, 2007

SYDNEY -- <snip> ...criticism for the decision, which was made without cooperation from Australia's defense chiefs or the undertaking of long due diligence and comparative analysis.

<snip> "Few decisions of the Howard government were more controversial than its commitment to spend more than A$6 billion on 24 Super Hornets without proper due process or capability justification," [Defense Minister Joel] Fitzgibbon wrote, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"long due diligence" appears, to me, to mean "long-overdue due diligence".
Note that the last paragraph quoted above properly reads "proper due process".

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