Another Eggcorn? (was Post-opt for Post-op)

Margaret Lee mlee303 at YAHOO.COM
Tue Nov 10 10:31:47 UTC 2009


One of my students wrote, "The author does not sugar code his story."  --the use of 'sugar code' for 'sugar coat.' It is not is the eggcorn database. Is this an eggcorn?
 
Margaret Lee


--- On Tue, 11/10/09, Mark Mandel <Mark.A.Mandel at GMAIL.COM> wrote:


From: Mark Mandel <Mark.A.Mandel at GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Post-opt for Post-op
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 3:10 AM


I don't think so. What does "post-opt" gain over "post-op" in apparent
meaningfulness? The definition, from Chris Waigl's Eggcorn Database
and Forum site (http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/about/):

=====
Not every homophone substitution is an eggcorn. The crucial element is
that the new form makes sense: for anyone except lexicographers or
other people trained in etymology, more sense than the original form
in many cases. The more brazen among the eggcorn users may eloquently
defend and explain the underlying semantics (metaphors, metonymies,
convincing but erroneous accounts of the supposed history). Thus,
thumbs down for "definately" and "they’re / there house" (not
eggcorns, just phonetic misspellings: the non-standard versions don’t
make any more sense than, or reinterpret the meaning of the standard
versions), but thumbs up for "for all intensive purposes".
=====

On Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 8:23 PM, Michael Sheehan <wordmall at aol.com> wrote:
>
> Found on a Face Book page: Â "Great post-opt appointment with the
> surgeon." Â Eggcorn?
>
> Mike Sheehan
> seniors.tcnet.org

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