Eggcorns?

[Wilson Gray]

Not to mention that, in the original, 'work-case scenario' is in
quotes, from which one can infer that the writer was aware that the
phrase was not standard. And, of course, jargon rarely makes sense to
outsiders.

Please accept my apologies for having wasted the time of two people with this.

-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Mark Twain



On Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 7:23 AM, Chris Waigl <chris at lascribe.net> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Chris Waigl <chris at LASCRIBE.NET>
> Subject:      Re: =?UTF-8?Q?Eggcorns=3F?=
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:41:50 -0800, Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at STANFORD.EDU>
> wrote:
>>
>> On Jan 12, 2009, at 9:19 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>
>>>
>>> ZDNet Letters to the Editor:
>>>
>>> Writer A. And the competition [for sales] is tough at $199-$249.
>>>
>>> Writer B. [Yes, but] the _pricing giving_ was probably based on a
>>> _'work-case scenario'_.
>>
>> the first is likely to be a typo -- perseveration of the "-ing".  but
>> the second looks promising.
>
> It did look promising to me, but I find two sorts of usages:
>
> 1/ Juxtaposed with "best case scenario". This could be a slip of the
> fingers.
> 2/ In project management, where possibly it is used intentionally as a
> jargon term. ("Students will find a suitable work case scenario." etc).
>
> Chris Waigl
>
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