A double-dose of eggcorns
Eggcorns are peculiar linguistic beasties: they happen when someone writes a phrase but mistakenly substitutes one of the words with another. The word eggcorn itself comes from an instance in which someone referred to acorns as egg corns. In a way, this substitution—although wrong—still makes sense: acorns are egg-shaped, and they’re seeds, like corn.
Anyway, here’s a double dose of eggcorns that I recently discovered in our local newspaper.
From an article about how sled dog racers dress to stay warm:
“Mushers, handlers and spectators didn’t seem phased Friday by being out in the cold all day at the Third Crossing Sled Dog Rendevous.”
Actually, I think the mushers, handlers, and spectators didn’t seem fazed by being out in the cold all day. Faze means “to disrupt the composure of; disconcert.” Phase, as a verb, means “to plan or carry out systematically by phases,” or “to set or regulate so as to be synchronized.” However, according to The Eggcorn Database (yes, someone keeps track of these things), this misuse of phase is quite common.
The second one is from an article describing the confirmation hearings for Ed Schafer, who’s been selected by President Bush as the new Secretary of Agriculture:
“Shafer towed the administration line, agreeing with the administration…”
As soon as I read that, I asked myself “I wonder where he towed it to? ” Toe the line is a figure of speech derived from the image of a group of people lined up with their toes touching a line on the ground (at the start of a race, or in military formation, for example). Again, replacing toe with tow has become quite common, and it may soon be an accepted form.
Despite the widespread use of phase for faze and tow the line instead of toe the line, I ask you all to do me a favor and toe the line by using the correct forms of these idioms.
Roy Jacobsen
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