caught in the wild--random finds

[victor steinbok]

for additions to your collections (all from the Boston Herald):

1) "#walshgate"/"catch the snafu"/"technical
goof"/"cyber-intrigue"--yet another "snafu" in the wild, as well as
another -gate and "cyber-intrigue", and a "cute" finish (no doubt soon
to be attributed to Mark Twain):

> Some cynics think the gaffe that now has its own Twitter page, “#walshgate,” happened by accident on purpose. ... Walsh appeared to catch the snafu hours later, explaining in another tweet: “Oops. You caught me doing my job.” ... “It was unquestionably a technical goof on my part,” Walsh told the Herald. “You know, live and learn.” ... Walsh’s cryptic blurb prompted a flurry of local cyber-intrigue about the identity of the intended recipient. ... As for those who believe his posting was nothing more than a quick-fingered trick, Walsh said, “Anybody who wants to speculate that I’m smart, I’d be very foolish to try to dissuade them.”

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view/20100308was_john_walshs_post_a_trick_or_tweet/srvc=home&position=also

2) "player owner"--I don't even know what that means. Well, no--I
suppose, I do. Insert [who(m)] after "player". Also--creative use of
commas--the last line below is almost Shakespearean, thanks to yet
another idiotic use of style rules:

> It all happened on the first day of free agency. The player owner Robert Kraft had called the team’s “first priority” was shown to be exactly that. ... The team that Randy Moss said “don’t pay,” did. The team with the rap for allowing its best players to walk, didn’t. ... Twice, a deal nearly was struck.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/football/patriots/view/20100305vince_wilfork_signs_a_contract_extension/

3) "via Twitter/via text"--nothing really new, but shows just how
pervasive "via" has become:

> But Bodden’s agent, Alvin Keels, disputed both reports via Twitter and via text to the Herald.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/football/patriots/view.bg?articleid=1238325

4) "glamazon"/"witnessing"/"rhapsodize"--was almost ready to hit Send
when I spotted this one. I suppose, "witnessing" is not too unusual,
given the "non-native speaker" status:

> The Brazilian glamazon celebrated International Women’s Day yesterday with a tribute to motherhood and her own mother, who, she said, is “my hero.” “I grew up witnessing my mother always trying her best at doing all she could for the six of us girls,” Mrs. Brady wrote in Portuguese in a blog post titled “Gift of Life.” ... Gi went on to rhapsodize about the birth of her 3-month old son as “the most intense and life-changing experience of my life.”

http://www.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view/20100309buyers_beware_of_tom_brady__gisele_bundchens_back_bay_digs/

5) Is "fraught/wrought with danger/peril" an eggcorn? All raw counts
on EXACT searches, the firs eight from suggestions by Google. In all
cases but "with emotion" the suggested phrase was "fraught with X"
irrespectively of which verb was typed in first (apparently Google
just picks the most popular combination). (M=million, G=thousand --
perhaps it should be the opposite? or use Mega and Kilo, as in
Kiloghits and Megaghits?)

... with danger
3.64M/233G

... with peril
4.62M/136G

... with errors*
156G/72.6G

... with emotion**
279G/312G

... with difficulty
1.48M/278G

... with difficulties
4.66M/105G

... with problems
1.52M/52G

... with portent
15.6G/3

... with nonsense
41.5G/5

... with mistakes
152G/15.9G

... with pleasure*
481G/317G

... with disaster*
144G/23.3G

... with risk
748G/53.2G

... with the unexpected
446G/1

... with experience
366G/5

... with the loss [of/to/by]***
2.66M/0

... with waste
69.4G/35G*

... with abuse*
447G/197G

... with fraud*
118G/70.4G

Note the significantly closer numbers in * and a reversal in **.

There are actually only 31 hits under "fraught with the loss" which
makes me wonder about the rest of the numbers.

VS-)

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