"coach potato" another possible eggcorn?

[Benjamin Barrett]

Looking at some of the Googits cited below, other than when actually
talking about a "coach," this looks like a typo rather than an
eggcorn. BB

First, there are some genuine hits for people on coaches:

-----
YOU'LL JUST LOVE BEING A COACH POTATO (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_/ai_n14464095
)

A company called "Coach Potato" (http://www.coachpotato.com/)

Reformed 'coach potato' sets sights on skeleton glor
-----

There are also items that are clearly typos:

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'Coach potato' blights name of humble spud...British potato farmers
were taking to the streets on Monday to call for the expression "couch
potato" to be struck from the dictionary on the grounds that it harms
the vegetable's image. (http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?newslett=1&em=15570a1a20050621ah&click_id=29&art_id=qw111926412111A141&set_id=1
)

What will the coach potato evolve into?...Indeed, what's increasingly
evident in television's rush into the digital age is that the
archetypal couch potato may be an endangered species. (http://news.cnet.co.uk/televisions/0,39029698,39194703,00.htm
)
-----

There's even what looks like a blend of couch, Loach and coach:

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Reformed 'coach potato' sets sights on skeleton glory...

"Yeah,'' says an amused Keith Loach, "thanks, but no thanks....I'd get
home from work'' - managing a car-rental outlet - "drop down on the
couch and watch TV....

"When Keith gets back in fighting shape, I think it's going to be a
significant year for him,'' predicts national team coach and Turin
gold-medallist Duff Gibson.

(http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=3b234e4d-0810-4ee1-9700-494de673f869
)
-----

Urban Dictionary has two entries, one of which seems to be just a typo:

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1. An extremely lazy coach; posts when practice/game is an hour before
practice/game, so half of the team shows up;
* 2. someone who spends most of their time watching TV and doesn't
exercise or have any interesting hobbies. Such a person spends most
his/her free time sitting or lying on a coach. (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=coach+potato
)

The definition from HS below is for "couch potato" that comes up when
Googling for "coach potato," though I don't know why that should happen.


On Nov 29, 2008, at 6:59 PM, Herb Stahlke wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      "coach potato" another possible eggcorn?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> In the latest Newsweek, Sharon Begley writes in her "On Science"
> column:
>
> You measure the blood pressure, heart rate, weight, and other aspects
> of cardiovascular health of thousands of coach potatoes year after
> year.
>
> Googling "coach potato" gets about 39.7k hits.  When you refine the
> search to eliminate the cartoon series, the bus tour company,
> communications technologies, and other false matches, the number drops
> to about 14.6k, many of which clearly mean "couch potato."  "Coach
> potato' has an Urban Dictionary definition, "coach potato is used to
> describe someone who sits on the coach all day and does nothing
> (common knowledge)."  WikiAnswers has a question on the source of
> "coach potato" but no comments have been submitted.

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