Pits and Pieces

[bri...@wsu.edu]

I was startled and then charmed to find the expression "pits and
pieces" in a paper I was grading last night. I started thinking about
making a peach pie, separating the pits from the pieces.

Doesn't seem to be terribly common, according to Google; but there's a
small population out there using it.

"During the last ten years I have been collecting pits and pieces of
pottery from
all over Nabataea."
nabataea.net/indiapot.html

[Don Phillipson]

<bri...@wsu.edu> wrote in message
news:1127831609.7...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...

> "During the last ten years I have been collecting pits and pieces of
> pottery from all over Nabataea."
> nabataea.net/indiapot.html

How can we know this is not a typo for bits and pieces?

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

[Salvatore Volatile]

bri...@wsu.edu wrote:
> I was startled and then charmed to find the expression "pits and

> pieces" in a paper I was writing last night. I started thinking about

> making a peach pie, separating the pits from the pieces.
>
> Doesn't seem to be terribly common, according to Google; but there's a
> small population out there using it.
>

> "During the last ten years I have been collecting pits and pieces of
> pottery from
> all over Nabataea."
> nabataea.net/indiapot.html

Isn't that just either a misspelling or an eggcorn for "bits and pieces"?

BTW, is "[peach] pit" used in TCE, or is another term used (e.g. "stone",
"seed")? In New York City English (TDSNTNINYCE) it's "pit".

[Peter Romero]

> BTW, is "[peach] pit" used in TCE, or is another term used (e.g. "stone",
> "seed")? In New York City English (TDSNTNINYCE) it's "pit".

For those of you who may have missed the acronyms, I have expanded them for
you:

Bean to wind, is "[peach] pit" used in The Ckynge's Englishe, or is another
term used (e.g. "stone", "seed")? In New York City English (Through
Dunhaven Square north, though not in New York County East) it's "pit".

[Chris Waigl]

Thanks for the report. I agree that it's a charming one.
<http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/english/607/pit/>

Chris Waigl

--
blog: http://serendipity.lascribe.net/
eggcorns: http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/

[Ted Schuerzinger]

Somebody claiming to be "Don Phillipson" <d.phil...@ttrryytteell.com>
wrote in news:chd_e.4219$5I2....@newscontent-01.sprint.ca:

> How can we know this is not a typo for bits and pieces?

Are P and B close to each other on the Dvorak keyboard?

--
Ted <fedya at bestweb dot net>
Oh Marge, anyone can miss Canada, all tucked away down there....
--Homer Simpson

[Lars Enderin]

Ted Schuerzinger wrote:
> Somebody claiming to be "Don Phillipson" <d.phil...@ttrryytteell.com>
> wrote in news:chd_e.4219$5I2....@newscontent-01.sprint.ca:
>
>
>>How can we know this is not a typo for bits and pieces?
>
>
> Are P and B close to each other on the Dvorak keyboard?
>

Not adjacent, anyway. P is at the normal R position, and B is at 'N'.

[bri...@wsu.edu]

I hoped it would be obvious that it was a mishearing leading to a
misspelling of "bits and pieces." Guess I shouldn't have taken it for
granted.

Not a typo, though. "P" and "B" are nowhere near each other on the
keyboard.

[Jess Askin]

Are you saying that's the only thing that could cause a typo?

[Skitt]

bri...@wsu.edu wrote:

> To me a typo is a slip of the fingers rather than of the mind. I'm
> pretty sure these folks really intend to type "pits." I realize a lot
> of people use "typo" for all kinds of errors, but to me a
> typographical error isn't a different thing altogether.

So, how would you describe your last sentence, and what did you mean to say?
--
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/

[Donna Richoux]

bri...@wsu.edu <bri...@wsu.edu> wrote:

> To me a typo is a slip of the fingers rather than of the mind. I'm
> pretty sure these folks really intend to type "pits."

I noticed that the example was from India, where some of the speakers
have trouble distinguishing P and B. They may not be able to hear the
difference between "bits" and "pits" and think that "pits" is the proper
pronunciation and spelling of the word in that expression.

> I realize a lot
> of people use "typo" for all kinds of errors, but to me a typographical
> error isn't a different thing altogether.

What about transposing two letters (regardless of how close they are to
each other on the keyboard). Is that a typo?

To me, what is crucial about a typo is that the writer would fix it if
s/he saw it (and cared about accuracy). If the writer can look at it and
believe it's just fine, then it's not a typo.

--
Best -- Donna Richoux