[Ads-l] "Speed bombs" ('speed bumps')

[Laurence Horn]

As you no doubt are aware, a speed bump is canonically a dose of methamphetamine rolled up in cigarette paper and swallowed.  But it’s not always that.  Here’s an eggcorn candidate, courtesy of our local Neighborhood online; the writer is complaining about drivers in stolen cars going too fast, hitting parked cars and potentially even people:

“We need some speed bombs in this neighborhood”. 

There's a very similar datum from a story in a 2015 Winston-Salem, NC news item about a 4-year-old girl who was critically injured by a speeding car:

Lyman and Melton both agree that lowering the speed limit and putting in speed bumps might make the neighborhood safer for all the kids who live there.
"You can go in a lot of cul-de-sacs and you can see where they have put speed bombs and it does slow down the traffic. I really think that's what they need out here," said Melton.
https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/4-year-old-critically-injured-after-being-hit-by-car/83-224163410 <https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/4-year-old-critically-injured-after-being-hit-by-car/83-224163410>


There’s also this from a video game promo, with “speed bombs” and “speed bumps” are juxtaposed in free variation:

Game Features: Multiple cars and game modes. Realistic roads with 3D environment. Challenging and endless game play. Multiple controls like accelerometer, UI Buttons and steering. Collect bonus after cross 100 speed bumps. Timer on Screen How to Play? Select the car and start the game, race the car and carefully cross speed bumps to reach the end point. Tilt the device to control car movements. Avoid hitting sideways and cross obstacles to get maximum scores. Install "Consecutive Speed Bump Car Drive" and take challenge of 100 speed bombs in minimum time.
https://download.cnet.com/Consecutive-Speed-Bump-Car-Drive/3000-2115_4-77729345.html <https://download.cnet.com/Consecutive-Speed-Bump-Car-Drive/3000-2115_4-77729345.html>

Pretty isolated occurrences, but for what it’s worth…

LH


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