[Ads-l] A newspaper "clear story"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Laurence Horn wrote:
> Not sure it’s an eggcorn, since the etymology really is “clere” = ‘clear’ + “story”,
> so it seems like “clear()story” is just a regularized spelling. (As in “creme” >
> ”cream filling”)  For me, the epiphany is that that’s what a clerestory is.
>  I must never have heard "clerestory” actually pronounced, just
> encountered it (very occasionally) in writing, and figured it was
> pronounced “cluh-REST-uhree” /kl@‘rEst at ri/, maybe influenced by
> “rectory” or maybe “vestry”.  Once again I’ve been mayzled.

Dictionary.com (based on the Random House Dictionary) lists clearstory
as an alternative spelling for clerestory.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/clearstory

The Wikipedians provide several alternatives: clerestory, clear
storey, clearstory, clearstorey.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerestory

>> On Mar 3, 2017, at 5:26 PM, Marc Sacks <msacksg at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>
>> When I saw the subject line before reading the email, I thought "Is that
>> supposed to be a window, or a church balcony?" I guess it's an eggcorn.
>>
>> On Fri, Mar 3, 2017 at 4:17 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com
>>> wrote:
>>
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> -----------------------
>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>>> Subject:      Re: A newspaper "clear story"
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> -------------------
>>>
>>> The terms "clearstory" and "clear story" are present in an online copy
>>> of a letter from Sarah L. Burks, Preservation Planner to the Cambridge
>>> Historical Commission.
>>>
>>> https://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media/Files/historicalcommission/pdf/
>>> casefile=
>>> s/d1432_memo.pdf?la=3Den
>>>
>>> [Begin excerpt]
>>> The southern half of the roof of Saint Patrick=E2=80=99s caught fire. The
>>> slate roof on the south side of the main gable collapsed, taking with
>>> it much of the third floor framing. A secondary shed roof and a post
>>> and truss framing system support the clearstory wall and the main
>>> roof. The fire filled the cavity above the second floor ceiling in
>>> this shed roofed area causing extensive structural damage.
>>> [End excerpt]
>>>
>>> [Begin excerpt]
>>> A choir loft was located over the vestibule of the main entrance and
>>> an elliptical apse and two sacristies were at the opposite end. The
>>> center of the sanctuary was 40=E2=80=99 high and lit by large arched
>>> window=
>>> s
>>> at a clear story level.
>>> [End excerpt]
>>>
>>> Garson
>>>
>>> On Fri, Mar 3, 2017 at 2:36 PM, Joel Berson <berson at att.net> wrote:
>>>> Stained glass windows from a former church in Cambridge,  Mass., now to
>>> b=
>>> e torn down as the result of a fire, will be transferred to a housing
>>> compl=
>>> ex damaged by the same fire and needing new windows.  In the former
>>> church,=
>>> quoting from the newspaper:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 'The center of the sanctuary was 40 feet high and lit by large arched
>>> win=
>>> dows at a clear story level,' according to the [Cambridge Historical
>>> Commis=
>>> sion's] description of the former church.
>>>>
>>>> Boston Globe, March 3, 2017, page B2, "A window on life after a fire,"
>>> co=
>>> l. 3.
>>>>
>>>> Also in the Globe online.  I don't know whether this error is the
>>> Globe's=
>>> or the Cambridge Historical Commission's.
>>>>
>>>> Joel
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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