[Ads-l] YouTubery: "I guess you never heard of a _wheelbarrel_."

[Dan Goncharoff]

At the end of the 19th century, a "wheelbarrel" referred to a barrel on
wheels, used to bring drinking water to the fields.



On Sun, Apr 21, 2019, 8:51 AM Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:

> In England in 1831, a "wheel barrel" was a barrow-mounted barrel with a
> perforated tube extending out from the barrel, used for watering a row of
> plants, in one case,  strawberries.
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30812486/new_england_farmer/
>
> New England Farmer
> (Boston, Massachusetts)
> 28 Jan 1831, Fri  •  Page 4
>
> An update on the 1856 apple barrel bet Garson referenced - the man from
> Boston won, and the apples were wheeled from Newburyport to Boston; ten
> thousand people reportedly gathered to greet them.
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30812681/the_tennessean/
>
> The Tennessean
> (Nashville, Tennessee)
> 16 Nov 1856, Sun  •  Page 2
>
>
>
> Get Outlook for Android<https://aka.ms/ghei36>
>
> From: ADSGarson O'Toole
> Sent: Sunday, April 21, 02:36
> Subject: Re: YouTubery: "I guess you never heard of a _wheelbarrel_."
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
>
> ---------------------- 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: YouTubery: "I guess you never heard of a _wheelbarrel_."
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The prescriptivists have the upper hand over the descriptivists in the
> world of "wheelbarrows" and "wheelbarrels". The word "wheelbarrel" is
> currently rejected as a mistake instead of being embraced as a
> variant.
>
> A sale conducted in  Cheshire, England in 1856 listed both
> "wheelbarrels, and wheelbarrows". Perhaps the two terms referred to
> distinct items at that time and place. Alternatively, the seller
> wanted to connect with buyers by listing synonyms.
>
> Date: March 1, 1856
> Publication: Cheshire Observer
> Location: Chester, Cheshire, England
> Article: Sale by Mr. George Felton
> Quote Page 2, Column 5
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> A great number of harrows, iron ploughs of the best make; long carts,
> tumbrel carts, splendid new wagon, first rate water carts,
> wheelbarrels, and wheelbarrows; a large quantity of gear of all
> descriptions; two sets of handsomely brassmounted ride-and-drive
> carriage harness, saddles, bridles, cloths, &c.; . . .
> [End excerpt]
>
> Here is a fun citation from 1856 describing a politician who may be
> required to "wheel a barrel of apples on a wheel-barrow".
>
> Date: August 7, 1856
> Newspaper: Boston Press and Post
> Newspaper Location: Boston, Massachusetts
> Article: All Sorts of Paragraphs
> Quote Page 1, Column 2
> Database: GenealogyBank
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Who will wheel the apples? It is said that Major Poore's wager has
> been taken, namely--that if Fillmore does not receive more votes than
> Fremont, in Massachusetts he, Poore, will wheel a barrel of apples on
> a wheel-barrow from Newburyport to Boston, or, if Fillmore receives
> the most, the taker of the bet shall convey the apples in the same way
> from Boston to Newburyport.
> [End excerpt]
>
> The following 1898 citation employed "wheelbarrow" and "wheelbarrel"
> in adjacent sentences. Yet, the two terms apparently referred to the
> same object.
>
> Date: October 16, 1898
> Newspaper: The Cincinnati Enquirer
> Newspaper Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
> Article: Street Talk
> Quote Page 13, Column 1
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> "If yer had a wheelbarrel we'd be all right," asserted the young man
> who had delivered the guitar.
>
> "Well, there's a wheelbarrow somewhere on the place. It's back by the
> stable."
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Sat, Apr 20, 2019 at 11:58 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Sat, Apr 20, 2019 at 11:22 AM Mark Mandel <mark.a.mandel at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > I'd call "wheelbarrel" an *eggcorn*, not a folk etymology.
> >
> >
> > Indeed, it was one of the earliest entries in the Eggcorn Database.
> >
> > https://eggcorns.lascribe.net/english/10/barrel/
> >
> > ...linking to Arnold's Language Log post:
> >
> > http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001390.html
> >
> > ...which in turn references discussion of "wheelbarrel" on this list back
> > in Aug. 2004.
> >
> >
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2004-August/thread.html#39929
> >
> > --bgz
> >
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