I am familiar with the "-ridden" construction, e.g. "anxiety-ridden". I also know that "riddled with X" is possible. I recently saw the combination "ridden with X", which sounds off to me, but I'm not sure whether my intuition is a reliable guide here. Does "ridden with X" make sense, or is it an eggcorn?
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Does anxiety "ride" you, or does it "riddle" you. Both make sense. I don't know which came first, and which is the eggcorn. – Peter Shor Nov 17 '13 at 12:41
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@PeterShor Shouldn't it be "ridden by" rather than "ridden with", though? – MrMulliner Nov 17 '13 at 12:46
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It should definitely be "ridden by anxiety", and not "ridden with anxiety". Maybe somebody misconstrued "anxiety-ridden" to mean "ridden with anxiety". I don't think that counts as an eggcorn, because it's incorrect back-formation, and not a misheard pronunciation. You can google and find "anxiety-riddled" as well; that's an eggcorn. – Peter Shor Nov 17 '13 at 12:50
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@PeterShor - thanks, that's what I wanted to know. If you'll enter that as an answer I'll approve it. – MrMulliner Nov 17 '13 at 13:10
It should be "ridden by anxiety", and not "ridden with anxiety". Maybe somebody misconstrued "anxiety-ridden" to mean "ridden with anxiety". I don't think that counts as an eggcorn, because it's incorrect back-formation, and not a misheard pronunciation.
You can google and find "anxiety-riddled" as well; that's an eggcorn. The "adjective-ridden" formation dates back to at least 1812 (here is "fear-ridden" from Google books) and "adjective-riddled" only appears much later.
answered Nov 17 '13 at 14:14
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I don't think -riddled is an eggcorn. Worm-riddled (so full of holes it resembles a riddle or sieve) is both venerable and purely descriptive; what is wrong with anxiety-riddled as a metaphor? – Tim Lymington Nov 17 '13 at 14:27
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3I would say that "worm-riddled" is not an eggcorn, but "guilt-riddled" is. – Peter Shor Nov 17 '13 at 14:46
