I just ran across the remarkable bloomer “lone be hold” and decided to check to see whether this misspelling of “lo and behold” had made it into the Eggcorn Database. Evidently it wasn’t judged a proper eggcorn since it isn’t listed. To qualify, a nonstandard spelling has to make a kind of sense, like “all goes well” (augurs well) or “cease the day” (“seize the day”), both of which are discussed in Common Errors in English Usage.
However, the affiliated Eggcorn Forum contains an abundance of goofs (in antiquated slang,“bloomers”) that haven’t qualified as proper eggcorns, but which are nevertheless interesting.
In the relevant discussion thread the following are discussed: “loan behold,” “lone behold,” and “low and behold.” It turns out the form I encountered is quite rare, but “lone behold” is more common. “Low and behold” is discussed on p. 181 of my book.
Here’s a good discussion of “lo” vs. “low.”
If you need to disentangle the tortured Christmas-related pun in my title, check out this link to YouTube.
However, the affiliated Eggcorn Forum contains an abundance of goofs (in antiquated slang,“bloomers”) that haven’t qualified as proper eggcorns, but which are nevertheless interesting.
In the relevant discussion thread the following are discussed: “loan behold,” “lone behold,” and “low and behold.” It turns out the form I encountered is quite rare, but “lone behold” is more common. “Low and behold” is discussed on p. 181 of my book.
Here’s a good discussion of “lo” vs. “low.”
If you need to disentangle the tortured Christmas-related pun in my title, check out this link to YouTube.
No comments:
Post a Comment