"bend of mind" -- possible eggcorn?

[Joel S. Berson]

Wilson,

Yes, to me "Of a naturally-humorous bent" and "Of a naturally
humorous bent _of mind_" have the same meaning.

But "Of a naturally humorous _bend_ of mind" I deprecate -- although
the OED does admit it:
"bend n.4", "4. Turn of mind, inclination, bent. Obs. except with
defining words, as an instance of sense 1."  (Sense 1 is "The action
of the verb bend v.; bending, incurvation; bent condition, flexure,
curvature.")

So perhaps "_bend_ of mind" is still in use, and there is not an
eggcorn after all.

I notice that about 29 ghits say "mind-_benting_"!  That must belong
in some database.

Joel

At 6/13/2012 08:54 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:

>On Wed, Jun 13, 2012 at 2:58 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> > bend of mind
> > bent of mind
>
>I'm *completely* unfamiliar with either of these expressions. My loss,
>no doubt. So, I'm lost WRT whether - or even how - there may be an
>eggcorn. Does
>
>"Of a naturally-humorous bent"
>
>have the same meaning as
>
>"Of a naturally humorous bend/bent _of mind_"
>
>?
>
>Or am I so totally off-base that I'm not even in the ballpark?
>--
>-Wilson
>-----
>All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
>to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>-Mark Twain
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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