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English & Linguistics / Re: Eggcorns
« Last post by pooka on February 02, 2026, 12:47:16 PM »I got to explain what "revved up like a deuce" was to the kids at work last week.
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English & Linguistics / Re: The random etymology of the day
« Last post by rivka on January 29, 2026, 10:13:48 PM »Yeah, once I realized that was the reason, it made perfect sense.
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English & Linguistics / Re: The random etymology of the day
« Last post by Ela on January 29, 2026, 06:04:35 PM »Oh, yeah, I saw several PubMed things about the genetics of Ashkenazi Jews.
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English & Linguistics / Re: Eggcorns
« Last post by Ela on January 29, 2026, 06:03:32 PM »Yeah, absolutely, rivka.
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English & Linguistics / Re: The random etymology of the day
« Last post by rivka on January 29, 2026, 03:35:47 PM »It's fairly consistent with what I have read from various sources before.
And there's also this: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5478715/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAshkenaz%E2%80%9D%20is%20one%20of%20the,(Jeremiah%2051%3A27).
(I was initially confused as to why this was appearing in PubMed of all places, but it's about genetics. Just like that Reddit post, actually. I guess Dara Horn is right.)
And there's also this: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5478715/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAshkenaz%E2%80%9D%20is%20one%20of%20the,(Jeremiah%2051%3A27).
(I was initially confused as to why this was appearing in PubMed of all places, but it's about genetics. Just like that Reddit post, actually. I guess Dara Horn is right.)
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English & Linguistics / Re: Eggcorns
« Last post by rivka on January 29, 2026, 03:27:05 PM »my friend who used to do close captioning says automated closed captioning in use now makes these kind of mistakes all the time.Your friend is very correct. It's one of the easiest ways for me to tell if CC has been done by a human or AI. Humans make mistakes too, but they are different.
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English & Linguistics / Re: Eggcorns
« Last post by Jonathon on January 29, 2026, 03:17:45 PM »That tweet from Brian Allen says "sicko fan", though it looks like I was wrong to say he's with CNN. His bio says he's an independent journalist.
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English & Linguistics / Re: The random etymology of the day
« Last post by Ela on January 29, 2026, 03:04:44 PM »Yes, that's my assumption, too.
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English & Linguistics / Re: The random etymology of the day
« Last post by Jonathon on January 29, 2026, 03:03:17 PM »Thanks for sharing! I'm not qualified to evaluate how accurate that is either, but my impression is that r/AskHistorians is usually pretty reliable, and I assume a moderator there would know her stuff.
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English & Linguistics / Re: Eggcorns
« Last post by Ela on January 29, 2026, 03:02:46 PM »That made me laugh out loud.
However, when I listened to the video, I never heard anyone say "sicko fan" so I'm not sure what the tweeter's comment is mean to say. I heard sycophant, not sicko fan. Where did you see it transcribed as sicko fan?
I wouldn't put it past them, mind you, my friend who used to do close captioning says automated closed captioning in use now makes these kind of mistakes all the time.
However, when I listened to the video, I never heard anyone say "sicko fan" so I'm not sure what the tweeter's comment is mean to say. I heard sycophant, not sicko fan. Where did you see it transcribed as sicko fan?
I wouldn't put it past them, mind you, my friend who used to do close captioning says automated closed captioning in use now makes these kind of mistakes all the time.