51吃瓜 of the Day
erlking
noun
a spirit or personified natural power that works mischief, especially to children.
More about erlking
Erlking 鈥渁 spirit that works mischief鈥� is an adaptation of German 贰谤濒办枚苍颈驳 鈥渁lder king.鈥� However, the word erlking is not of ultimate German origin; 贰谤濒办枚苍颈驳 is in fact a mistranslation, courtesy of 18th-century poet Johann Gottfried von Herder, of Danish ellerkonge, a variant of elverkonge 鈥渆lf king.鈥� Elf has an interesting history, one full of semantic shifts over time. In Middle English, elf could denote one of a multitude of supernatural entities, including fairies, goblins, incubi, succubi, and spirits in general. Cognates in other Germanic languages include German Alb 鈥渆lf, nightmare鈥� and Old Norse alfr 鈥渆lf,鈥� the latter of which was borrowed into English as oaf, and names derived from this 鈥渆lf鈥� root include Alfred, Alvin, Aubrey, Gandalf, Oberon, and even Oliver. Though the Indo-European origin of all these words is uncertain, the most promising hypothesis鈥攂ased on a potential definition of 鈥渨hite apparition鈥� or 鈥渨hite ghost鈥濃�攊s a connection to the Proto-Indo-European root albhos 鈥渨hite鈥�; compare Latin albus 鈥渨hite鈥� (as in albedo, albino, and Albus Dumbledore). Erlking was first recorded in English in the 1790s.
how is erlking used?
鈥淢y son, wherefore seek’s thou thy face thus to hide?鈥�
鈥淟ook, father, the Erl-King is close by our side! Dost see not the Erl-King, with crown and with train?鈥�
鈥淢y son, 鈥檛is the mist rising over the plain.鈥�
鈥淥h come, thou dear infant! oh come thou with me! Full many a game I will play there with thee; On my strand, lovely flowers their blossoms unfold, My mother shall grace thee with garments of gold.鈥�
erlking
eggcorn
a word or phrase that is a seemingly logical alteration of another word or phrase that sounds similar and has been misheard or misinterpreted.
More about eggcorn
Eggcorn 鈥渁 seemingly logical alteration of a misheard word or phrase鈥� is a coinage by linguistics professor Geoffrey K. Pullum based on the word acorn. The logic here is that people unfamiliar with the term acorn (from Old English 忙肠别谤苍) may mistake the word as a compound of egg and corn because of acorns鈥� size and shape. An eggcorn is a type of folk etymology based on an honest mistake, as we saw in the etymology for the recent 51吃瓜 of the Day armscye, which is often incorrectly believed to come from 鈥渁rm鈥檚 eye,鈥� after the location and shape of an armscye. What makes something an eggcorn is that, unlike folk etymology proper, which results in a change to a word or phrase based on a nearly universal misconception, eggcorns tend to reflect common mistakes at the individual level鈥攏o matter how widespread these mistakes may be鈥攖hat do not change the spelling of the mistaken word or phrase. Also important is that eggcorns are based on logical misunderstandings, so not every gross misspelling on the average social media feed qualifies as an eggcorn. While eggcorn is attested as early as the early 19th century, its present sense dates from 2003.
how is eggcorn used?
Whether step foot in is, or originally was, an eggcorn has been hotly but inconclusively debated. However, no one argues that set foot in is anything other than standard English. So step foot in is one of those phrases that we鈥檙e probably better off not using even though there鈥檚 little reason to object if others use them.
New York Times columnist Frank Bruni wrote …. 鈥渢he Congress we鈥檙e about to get will be its [predecessor鈥檚] spit and image: familiar faces, timeworn histrionics, unending paralysis.鈥� Spit and image? …. Did Bruni just drop an eggcorn in America鈥檚 journal of record? …. As Language Log points out, he didn鈥檛 drop (lay?) an eggcorn at all. In fact, 鈥渟pit and image鈥� is the older version of the expression. Both may be alterations of an earlier form, 鈥渟pitten image.鈥�
eggcorn
laisser-aller
noun
unchecked freedom or ease; unrestraint; looseness.
More about laisser-aller
Laisser-aller 鈥渦nchecked freedom or ease鈥� is a direct borrowing from French, in which the phrase means 鈥渢o allow to go.鈥� Laisser 鈥渢o let, allow鈥� ultimately comes from Latin laxus 鈥渓oose,鈥� which is the source of English relax, release, and relish and is a distant cognate of English slack 鈥渘ot tight.鈥� The story of aller 鈥渢o go鈥� is a bit more complicated. Aller is a suppletive verb, which means that several of its inflected forms originated as borrowings from other words; while the infinitive form aller may derive either from a Celtic source or from Latin 补尘产耻濒腻谤别 鈥渢o walk,鈥� the present and future forms vais 鈥淚 go鈥� and irai 鈥淚 will go鈥� come from Latin 惫腻诲别谤别 and 墨谤别, respectively, both of which mean 鈥渢o go.鈥� In English, one common suppletive verb is go (with its past tense form, went, borrowed from wend 鈥渢o proceed鈥�), and suppletion is found as well with the adjectives good and bad (with comparative forms better and worse and superlative forms best and worst derived from different roots). Laisser-aller was first recorded in English in the early 19th century.
how is laisser-aller used?
Zoom dressing is 鈥渟omething the French worry about,鈥� said Manon Renault, an expert in the sociology of fashion. 鈥淓specially Parisians, who feel they represent elegance.鈥� And while a certain laisser-aller recently had the conservative weekly Madame Figaro fretting about whether home-wear habits would drag fashion 鈥渋nto a tailspin,鈥� interviews with a range of Parisians suggest a compromise of sorts had been reached.
Alvanley had a delightful recklessness and laisser aller in everything. His manner of putting out his light at night was not a very pleasant one for his host for the time being. He always read in bed, and when he wanted to go to sleep he either extinguished his candle by throwing it on the floor in the middle of the room, and taking a shot at it with the pillow, or else quietly placed it, when still lighted, under the bolster.
laisser-aller