law of Hobson-Jobson
English
Noun
- The rule that words or phrases borrowed between languages will be modified in their pronunciation as necessary to conform to the set of sounds used by the borrowing language.
- 1921, H.L. Mencken, The American Language, second ed., chapter 2, section 2,
- Its variations show a familiar effort to bring a new and strange word into harmony with the language—an effort arising from what philologists call the law of Hobson-Jobson.
- Ibid., chapter 10, section 3,
- Reckawackes, by the law of Hobson-Jobson, was turned into Rockaway, and Pentapang into Port Tobacco.
- 1921, John S. Farmer, A Dictionary of Slang and Colloquial English Slang and Its Analogues, page 482, s.v. Tommy-axe,
- Tommy-axe. A corruption of tomahawk: an instance of the law of Hobson-Jobson (q.v.).
- 1921, H.L. Mencken, The American Language, second ed., chapter 2, section 2,
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