Thanks for participating in our eggcorn hunt a couple weeks ago. We know a lot of you found all of them, but here’s the answer key just in case:
Original: He had a deep-seeded fear of jellyfish, so she knew the postponement of the scuba diving trip was, for all intensive purposes, a cancellation. She quickly began pouring over travel guides to find another way to spend their time off.
Corrected: He had a deep-seated fear of jellyfish, so she knew the postponement of the scuba diving trip was, for all intents and purposes, a cancellation. She quickly began poring over travel guides to find another way to spend their time off.
We’ve already covered for all intents and purposes and pore over in this newsletter. But we haven’t written about the third eggcorn: deep-seated. And, you guessed it, that’s what we’re covering this week.
The confusion between “deep-seated” and “deep-seeded” is multifaceted (and perhaps deep-seated in some cases). It all starts, of course, with the fact that “seated” and “seeded” sound pretty much the same. Add to that the fact that seeds go deep into the ground, but how deep can a chair or couch really get?
But to seat is to position yourself or someone (or something) else. And there’s evidence that the origin of the phrase “deep-seated” has to do with diseases (as in, things situated deep within the body), not plants.
Want to call the whole thing off? You can simply swap “deep-seated” for “deeply rooted.” 🤷♀️🌱
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