Sanford eggcorn: "world wind (tour)"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 11:21 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>
> At 6/25/2009 10:17 AM, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
> >
> >I suppose you could think of "world wind" as a blend of "world wide"
> >and "whirlwind." Or, since it modifies "tour," there could be
> >influence from "world tour" (to describe concert tours and the like).
>
> Are eggcorns and blends mutually exclusive?

Well, on the ECDB, I tend to stick blends in the "not an eggcorn" or
"questionable" categories. Examples include lexical blends like
"irregardless" (prob. a blend of "irrespective" and "regardless") and
idiom blends like "on a whim and a prayer" (prob. a blend of "on a
whim" and "on a wing and a prayer"). But the boundaries aren't always
so clear. Eggcorns can be blend-y, and vice versa.


--Ben Zimmer

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org