eggcorn

(redirected from Eggcorns)

Related to Eggcorns: mondegreen, malapropism, Acorns

egg·corn

(ĕg′kôrn′)

A series of words that result from the misunderstanding of a word or phrase as some other word or phrase having a plausible explanation, as free reign for free rein, or to the manor born for to the manner born (from William Shakespeare's Hamlet).

[Coined by Geoffrey K. Pullum (born 1945), British-born American linguist (eggcorn being an eggcorn for acorn, taken as egg + corn).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

eggcorn

(ˈɛɡˌkɔːn)

a malapropism or misspelling arising from similarity between the sound of the misspelled or misused word and the correct one in the accent of the person making the mistake

[C21: based on the mishearing of acorn as eggcorn, which was considered to be apposite]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

References in periodicals archive ?

The ants are my friends: misheard lyrics, malapropisms, eggcorns and other linguistic gaffes.

BOOKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED

I'll leave it you to find out about, 'Dogberrys and 'Eggcorns. I think I was happier not knowing this, as I've said many times, "You can learn something new everyday, if you're not careful."

Has anyone spotted the bald racoon?

Ching, For All "Intensive" Purposes: A Primer on Malapropisms, Eggcorns, and Other Rogue Elements of the English Language, infra at 66.

Foreword: administrative law is not for sissies!

There are several examples of what are called "eggcorns" in the paragraphs above.

Can you put together a list of the eggcorns in this column?

Doggy dog world!

This article will orientate (6) you to several categories of confusing words: malapropisms, eggcorns, and mondegreens.

Like malapropisms, eggcorns involve the substitution of one word for a similar sounding word.

(34) In other words, mondegreens are eggcorns in very specific contexts--musical lyrics, poems, and such.

Malapropisms, eggcorns, mondegreens--it is enough to make the heartiest of souls (43) take to a chaise lounge (44) with the vapors.

Like eggcorns, mondegreens tend to make their own sort of sense--compared to malapropisms, which are simply incorrect.

(36) E.g., Jan Freeman, Mondegreens and Eggcorns, BOSTONGLOBE.com, Apr.

For all "intensive" purposes: a primer on malapropisms, eggcorns, and other rogue elements of the English language

Ching, Major Anne B., For All "Intensive" Purposes: A Primer on Malapropisms, Eggcorns, and Other Rogue Elements of the English Language, Dec.