eggcorns and other wild beasts--the Bernei Madoff edition

Mon Mar 23 20:08:12 UTC 2009

On Mar 23, 2009, at 2:49 PM, Victor wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      eggcorns and other wild beasts--the Bernei Madoff
> edition
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> Browsing through the letters to the US Attorneys Office in connection
> with the Bernie Madoff case, I spotted an eggcorn in the wild. This
> one
> is not in the database and does not appear to be a spell-checker
> failure.<br>
> <br>
> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/CNBC/Sections/News_And_Analysis/_News/__EDIT%20Englewood%20Cliffs/LetterOfMadoffVictims.pdf
> ">http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/CNBC/Sections/News_And_Analysis/_News/__EDIT%20Englewood%20Cliffs/LetterOfMadoffVictims.pdf
> </a><br>
> <br>
> There is other stuff to watch out for. Below are some of the ones that
> I've spotted or found interesting.<br>
> <br>
> On page 57, the correspondent signs the letter with "Respectively,
> []".
> (Actual signature blacked out.)<br>
> I am assuming the intent was to sign with "respectfully".<br>
> <br>
> The same correspondent makes a couple of other comments that would
> irritate an average prescriptivist. For those who always complain
> about
> "impact" being used as a verb (I have quite a number of such friends
> and acquaintances), there is the pair of sentences (not in
> succession):
> "This devastating effect, has impacted 51 suffering families." and
> "Bernie Madoff has made a profound negative affect on my entire
> family." Yes, the comma in the first sentence is also in the
> original.<br>
> <br>
> Second, talking about his own father, the correspondent wrote, "As a
> retired person who is in their 80's, he is not in a position to go
> back
> into the workforce."<br>
> <br>
> On p. 58, the first sentence, referring to Madoff and his wife,
> reads,<br>
> <br>
> "Suppose he transferred hundreds of millions to her account during the
> past." <br>
> <br>
> On p. 61, there are a few interesting expressions.<br>
> <br>
> "...should be looked at for any big amount that catches eyes..."<br>
> "Look for any big payouts or transfer outs..."<br>
> "I am sure he buried and hide gold bars..."<br>
> <br>
> But the one that's particularly puzzling to me is "...it's no
> different
> from traveling sales man from SC to rip off elderly folks." SC?? Is
> there something special about South Carolina traveling salesmen, or is
> there another meaning to this?<br>
> <br>
> On p.79, "I am a historian of financial fraud and financial
> bubbles ...
> and would suggest that it might be _meet and proper_ for you to have
> one individual present who can put the entire Madoff matter into
> historical perspective.<small></small>"<br>
> <br>
~~~~~~~~~~~~
What's at issue here?  "Meet & proper" sounds okay to me: redundant,
of course, but a known expression.
AM

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