mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
Junctural metanalysis: sounds like a Jungian term, eh? “Der patient iz prezently undergoing junctural metanalysiz in order zo zat ve might determine vhy he iz vetting bed.”
Actually it’s the blurring of boundaries between two words wherein new ones are created.
The best example I can provide is our word nickname. Once it was actually called an eke-name, or, an “extra” name. You might recognize the word eke from “eking out a living”—or stretching, supplementing.
But it’s hard to say “an eke name” because of the article an. So, over time, the n from an elided with eke and nekename was born.
My wife has an aunt named Anna but as a child, she had a tough time saying “aunt Anna.” So my wife started calling her aun Tanna, which eventually became aunt Dana. To this day, everyone calls her Dana.
Anyone have an example of junctural metanalysis from your own life? As always, we’d love to hear ‘em. I’ll leave you with a few more…
- an ewt = newt
- a napron=an apron (it works backwards too!)
- an auger = nauger
- an umpire = Noumpere
My friend Toby is really named Nicholas. In high school when I found out his name was really Nicholas, I was confused…so I asked him why he goes by Toby. (Note: Toby isn’t his middle name or anything.) It is because his older sister used to call him “The Baby” when he was born, but it sounded like Toby…so his parents just stuck with calling him that. Weird.
posted by Stephanie on 1-5-2007 at 9:16 am
When my grandmother was a baby her mom would always refer to her as a “pretty thing”. My great aunt could never it correctly, she’d say “ping” instead. The nickname (or nekename) has stuck for my grandma ever since!
posted by deidra on 1-5-2007 at 9:40 am
I don’t if this qualifies as a strict case of a junctural metanalysis, but when I hear the name of anchorwoman Paula Zahn, I always think is it her, or is it Paul Azahn?
posted by cube on 1-5-2007 at 9:56 am
My Aunt Anita has been Auntie Nita ever since the first one of us could talk.
posted by Karen on 1-5-2007 at 10:45 am
Oranges were originally noranges and changed by the same process of elision described above.
posted by haribo on 1-5-2007 at 11:01 am
Could this be why we live in a world of Brangelinas and K-Feds?
posted by Johnny Cat on 1-5-2007 at 11:34 am
My wife has a habit of unintentionally smooshing two words together when she’s excited or stressed… I wonder if this is something similar. Here are some of her smooshed words that we still use…
Violent and angry = Vangrant
Lunch and dinner = Linner
Amusing and funny = Afusing
posted by Jason! on 1-5-2007 at 11:35 am
How about when people emphasize “another” by saying “a whole nother”?
posted by Betsy on 1-5-2007 at 11:49 am
When I was a kid I had letters of the alphabet elided. The part of the alphabet song for ‘lmnop’ became ‘elemental p’.
posted by John on 1-5-2007 at 12:22 pm
A narrow = an arrow
posted by Xtopher on 1-5-2007 at 7:30 pm
My best friend often makes up words, but my favorite has to be “disillusional” from “disillusioned” and “delusional.”
Oranges were “noranges”? Now “naranja” makes more sense.
posted by Sammy on 1-6-2007 at 7:44 pm
My first name is “Evo” & I’m a guy, but most people, while well meaning, inconsiderately assume it’s a misspelling & call me “Eva”.
I feel like sayig “Grrr!, do you know what the first three letters of assume spell?! Sheesh!
posted by BlazeEagle on 1-8-2007 at 4:04 am
My wife’s friend Serena is now know as Sossy by this phenomenon.
My 9 yr old was unable to pronounce Serena as a baby. It came out as Soso which then became Sossy which is still know as in her family and even at work.
posted by ike on 1-8-2007 at 10:38 am
I work in a call center, and long ago we had an agent named Hugh. He would always answer, “Thank you for calling _______, this is Hugh.” A supervisor listening to calls at random heard that and asked me, “We have an agent named Shoe?”
posted by Greg on 1-8-2007 at 11:51 am