"Let me play _an evil's advocate_." [NT]

[Laurence Horn]

On Sep 2, 2011, at 11:11 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:

> Well, it *would* be nice to hear one of these spoken, complete with vowel shift.  I assume that was the case with Wilson's original example--perhaps on Springer or another such?  But even the others can't be simply written errors, or they'd appear as "a evil's advocate" rather than "an…"
>
> LH

P.S.  Just googling "an evil's advocate", I find 15 actual hits (some perhaps from non-native speakers).  There are also 2 for "a evil's advocate", although that may reflect the actual pronunciation of [@(?)i:v at lzaedv@k at t], given the non-negligible subset of speakers who say "a Easter bonnet", "a apple", etc.
>
> On Sep 2, 2011, at 10:51 AM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
>
>> Or maybe these are all errors a spelllchecker couldn't find, and there
>> was no copy editor.
>> DanG
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 10:10 AM, Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at stanford.edu> wrote:
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at STANFORD.EDU>
>>> Subject:      Re: "Let me play _an evil's advocate_." [NT]
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> On Sep 2, 2011, at 6:40 AM, Larry Horn wrote:
>>>
>>>> Subject:      Re: "Let me play _an evil's advocate_." [NT]
>>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>> Perhaps an orthographically rather than phonologically motivated reanalysis, as in (I assume) chaise longue > chaise lounge?
>>>
>>> seems likely.  here are a few examples (after weeding out a number that seem to come from non-native speakers):
>>>
>>> http://slashdot.org/story/11/09/01/1829257/Solar-Company-Folds-After-05B-In-Subsidies
>>>
>>> Before anyone jumps to the conclusion that green technology is not profitable and therefore a big scam, or a modern religion if you will, with all of its guilt, shame and asking for money, let me state an opinion that might not be popular here: Maybe, just maybe, the subsidies was too low? I know what you think but let me play an evil's advocate for a second. How much the fresh air is worth to you? To your children? To your children's children? To your children's children's grandchildren?
>>>
>>> .....
>>>
>>> http://boatertalk.com/forum/BoaterTalk/631841/
>>>
>>> To play the evil's advocate:  but consider that driving is a privledge, not a right, ...
>>>
>>> .....
>>>
>>> http://vicsoriano.blogspot.com/2009/11/of-bullies-and-bullying.html
>>>
>>> Of course, we always take side with our daughter because we know that she is a good child and a good classmate. But, we also try to be impartial and give her classmates the benefit of the doubt. We sometimes play the evil's advocate so we can see the other side of the story.
>>>
>>> .....
>>>
>>> arnold
>>>
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>>
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>
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