Malapropisms: mother cuddled

We've had an email from a 'secret admirer' (well, it is Valentine's day). She says:

I heard a good Smithism (or malapropism) the other day: a friend at work referred to somebody as having been mother cuddled as a child. I think the word he was looking for was mollycoddled!

Very nice.

But I wonder whether there is a connection between 'cuddled' and the 'coddled' of mollycoddled. The Concise OED says on coddle: C16, origin uncertain; in the sense 'treat in an indulgent or overprotective way', is probably a dialect variant of caudle (obsolete), 'administer invalids' gruel'.

On cuddle, all it says is: C16, of unknown origin. So I wouldn't be surprised if they were cognates. Anyone know?

Malapropisms: execrators

Roz has emailed us the following job advert which contains a "lovely malapropism":

Opportunities exist for skilled people to undertake roles within the Mining industry in Regional WA. Our company is currently seeking individuals who have the following abilities: Machine operation tickets such as Dump Trucks, Execrators, 992 Loaders, Drills Graders, Dozers and Water Karts with 6 wheels and also able to undertake a Manager or Supervisory role.

Roz adds: "For much of the day thereafter, I daydreamed about what it would be like to actually be paid for cursing mine sites..."

(We seem to be having a glut of malapropisms recently. For anyone not in the know, a malapropism is "the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one" (OED). The term itself comes from the character Mrs Malaprop in an 18th-century play. Hence the title of Apus' blog post the other day...)

Here's to Mrs Malaprop!

Following JD's reference to a Dutch correspondent's use of "exceedings", here's a malapropism that made me smile from an English writer who should know better:

It’s led to a shortage of 12 to 36-month-old vehicles, exasperated by people holding on to them.

Yes, of course the author meant "exacerbated", but as written doesn't this sentence paint a wonderful picture of exasperated vehicles desperate to find new homes?