When asked if I would like more food, I say, "No thanks. I have had an eloquent sufficiency." Why do others say "elegant sufficiency"? Is one incorrect, or both correct but used in different societies?

From the works of James Thomson (1700-1748)
"An elegant sufficiency, content,
Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books,
Ease and alternate labour, useful life,
Progressive virtue, and approving Heaven!"
The Seasons. Spring. Line 1158.
http://www.bartleby.com/100/241.html


I haven't been able to trace an origin for "eloquent sufficiency" and suggest it is a corruption of the former quotation in the same way that "must of" is a corruption for "must have"

My dad's twist on this was, "No, thanks, my sufficiency's suffancified."

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-suf1.htm
http://www.answers.com/topic/suffonsified

Eloquent is related to elocution, the manner in which a person speaks or reads in public, and the study and practice of oral delivery. It is only used to describe the way a person speaks, and would have nothing to do with having had enough to eat. On the other hand, in this phrase elegant would mean luxurious, excellent or superior.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/elocution
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/eloquent
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/elegant

This is an example of a malapropism, named after Sheridan's Mrs. Malaprop, whose name is taken from the French mal à propos meaning 'not appropriate.' It occurs when a word similar in sound to the correct word is used by mistake. This used to be not uncommon in Liverpool, for some reason, where people knew long words but weren't quite accurate in their meanings.

A related thing is the mondegreen, but this is more usually a phrase than a single word.
("Excuse me while I kiss this guy" for "Excuse me while I kiss the sky" for example. I thought it was the first one for many years.)

http://www.fun-with-words.com/malapropisms.html

Interesting how a little bit can enter the public realm while the poet and his work sink.