[Ads-l] "Speed bombs" ('speed bumps')
Jonathan Lighter
wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Mon Mar 6 19:07:04 UTC 2023
Some years back I posted about our local "speed humps."
JL
On Mon, Mar 6, 2023 at 11:00 AM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:
> 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
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
------------------------------------------------------------
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