Eggcorn

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An eggcorn is the alteration of a word or phrase through the mishearing or reinterpretation of one or more of its elements,{{Cite OED | eggcorn |access-date=24 May 2022}}, sense 2 creating a new phrase which is plausible when used in the same context.{{cite encyclopedia |year=2011 |title=eggcorn n. |encyclopedia=American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language |edition=fifth |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |location=Boston |isbn=978-0-547-04101-8}} Thus, an eggcorn is an unexpectedly fitting or creative malapropism. Eggcorns often arise as people attempt to make sense of a stock phrase that uses a term unfamiliar to them,{{cite book |last=Butterfield |first=Jeremy |title=Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare |year=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-923906-1 |pages=57–59}} as for example replacing "Alzheimer's disease" with "old-timers' disease", or William Shakespeare's "to the manner born" with "to the manor born". The autological word "eggcorn" is itself an eggcorn, derived from acorn.

Language change

Eggcorns arise when people attempt to use analogy and logic to make sense of an expression – often a stock one – that includes a term which is not meaningful to them. For example, the stock expression "in one fell swoop" might be replaced by "in one foul swoop", the infrequently used adjective "fell" (for "fierce", "cruel", or "terrible"[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fell#:~:text=4%20of%205-,adjective,a%20fell%20purpose] 'fell', adjective, at Merriam-Webster dictionary) being replaced with the more common word "foul" in order to convey the cruel/underhand meaning of the phrase as the speaker understands it.

Eggcorns are of interest to linguists as they not only show language changing in real time, but can also shed light on how and why the change occurs.

Etymology

The term egg corn (later contracted into one word, eggcorn) was coined by professor of linguistics Geoffrey Pullum in September 2003 in response to an article by Mark Liberman on the website Language Log, a group blog for linguists.{{cite news |last=Erard |first=Michael |title=Analyzing Eggcorns and Snowclones, and Challenging Strunk and White |page=4 |work=The New York Times | date=June 20, 2006 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/20/science/20lang.html?ex=1308456000&en=76bbb00d355e9796&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss |access-date=2006-12-21 |archive-date=2006-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813222006/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/20/science/20lang.html?ex=1308456000&en=76bbb00d355e9796&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss |url-status=live}} In his article, Liberman discussed the case of a woman who had used the phrase egg corn for acorn, and he noted that this specific type of substitution lacked a name. Pullum suggested using egg corn itself as a label.{{cite web |last=Liberman |first=Mark |date=September 23, 2003 |title=Egg corns: folk etymology, malapropism, mondegreen, ??? |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000018.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040404003251/http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000018.html |archive-date=2004-04-04 |work=Language Log}}

Examples

"baited breath" for "bated breath"{{Cite web |last=Wallraff |first=Barbara |date=2006-09-01 |title=Word Court |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/09/word-court/305102/ |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}{{cite news |last=Staff |date=2006-08-26 |title=The word: Eggcorns |page=52 |work=New Scientist |url=https://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19125662.000-the-word-eggcorns.html |url-status=live |access-date=2006-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070322115853/http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19125662.000-the-word-eggcorns.html |archive-date=2007-03-22}}
"beckon call" for "beck and call"{{Cite web |date=2010-01-22 |title=Beckon call |url=https://grammarist.com/eggcorns/beckon-call/ |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=Grammarist |language=en-US}}
"damp squid" for "damp squib"{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/2010/05/dont-be-a-damp-squid |title=Review: Don't be a Damp Squid |magazine=Wired |access-date=November 24, 2021 |last1=Williams |first1=Jenny }}
"ex-patriot" for "expatriate"{{cite web |url=https://wordsmith.org/words/eggcorn.html |author=Anu Garg |title=eggcorn |work=A Word A Day |date=February 21, 2013 |access-date=June 18, 2020 |archive-date=May 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516141315/http://wordsmith.org/words/eggcorn.html |url-status=live}}
"the feeble position" for "the fetal position"{{cite web |title=A damp squid, for all intensive purposes: 14 'eggcorns' to make you laugh |last=McG |first=Ross |url=https://metro.co.uk/2015/04/09/a-damp-squid-for-all-intensive-purposes-14-eggcorns-to-make-you-laugh-5141384/ |work=Metro |date=9 April 2015 |access-date=7 August 2022 |language=en}}
"for all intensive purposes" for "for all intents and purposes"{{cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/usage-for-all-intensive-purposes-intents |title='For All Intensive Purposes': An Eggcorn |work=Merriam-Webster |access-date=June 18, 2020 |archive-date=June 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618111805/https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/usage-for-all-intensive-purposes-intents |url-status=live}}
"free reign" for "free rein"{{cite web |title='Free Rein' or 'Free Reign'? |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/usage-free-rein-vs-free-reign |website=Merriam-Webster |access-date=13 December 2021 |language=en}}
"in one foul swoop" for "in one fell swoop"
"jar-dropping" for "jaw-dropping"
"just desserts" for "just deserts"{{Cite web |title='Just Deserts' or 'Just Desserts'? |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/just-deserts-or-just-desserts |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=Merriam-Webster |language=en}}
"old-timers' disease" for "Alzheimer's disease"
"old wise tale" for "old wives' tale"{{Cite web |date=2016-03-31 |title=Old wives' tale vs old wise tale |url=https://grammarist.com/eggcorns/old-wives-tale-vs-old-wise-tale/ |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=Grammarist |language=en-US}}
"on the spurt of the moment" for "on the spur of the moment"{{cite journal |last=Peters |first=Mark |date=March–April 2006 |title=Word Watch: The Eggcorn – Lend Me Your Ear |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/200603/word-watch-the-eggcorn |url-status=dead |journal=Psychology Today |volume=39 |issue=2 |page=18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060709191315/http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20060214-000002.html |archive-date=2006-07-09 |access-date=2006-07-13}}
"preying mantis" for "praying mantis"
"real trooper" for "real trouper"{{cite magazine |title=This Is What 'Eggcorns' Are (and Why They're Jar-Droppingly Good |url=https://time.com/3902230/what-is-an-eggcorn |magazine=Time |date=30 May 2015 |access-date=26 August 2022 |language=en}}
"ripe with..." for "rife with..."
"scandally clad" for "scantily clad"{{Cite web |last=Fozzard |first=Anna |date=2017-06-09 |title=Eggcorns and other cute things children say |url=https://www.strattoncraig.com/us/insight/eggcorns-cute-things-children-say/ |access-date=2023-07-18 |publisher=Stratton Craig Copywriting Agency |language=en}}
"to the manor born" for "to the manner born"
"wet your appetite" for "whet your appetite"{{Cite web |date=2016-03-20 |title=Whet one's appetite vs wet one's appetite |url=https://grammarist.com/idiom/whet-ones-appetite-vs-wet-ones-appetite/ |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=Grammarist |language=en-US}}

Similar phenomena

Eggcorns are similar to but distinct from several other linguistic expressions:{{cite web |last=Pullum |first=Geoffrey K |author-link=Geoffrey Pullum |date=October 27, 2003 |title=Phrases for lazy writers in kit form |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000061.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017100244/http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000061.html |archive-date=October 17, 2007 |access-date=November 25, 2007 |publisher=Language Log}}

Where a folk etymology is a change in the form of a word caused by widespread misunderstanding of the word's etymology, an eggcorn may be limited to one person rather than being used generally within a speech community.
A malapropism generally derives its effect from a comic misunderstanding of the user, often creating a nonsensical phrase; an eggcorn on the other hand is a substitution that exhibits creativity or logic.
A mondegreen is a misinterpretation of a word or phrase, often within the lyrics of a specific song or other type of performance, and need not make sense within that context.{{cite web |author=Marko Ticak |date=24 Nov 2016 |title=Humanity's Best Eggcorn Examples |url=https://www.grammarly.com/blog/best-eggcorn-examples/ |website=grammarly blog}} An eggcorn must still retain something of the original meaning, as the speaker understands it, and may be a replacement for a poorly understood phrase rather than a mishearing.
In a pun, the speaker or writer intentionally creates a humorous effect, whereas an eggcorn may be used or created by someone who is unaware that the expression is non-standard.{{cite web |last=Zwicky |first=Arnold |date=2 Nov 2003 |title=LADY MONDEGREEN SAYS HER PEACE ABOUT EGG CORNS |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000074.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308091414/http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000074.html |archive-date=8 March 2019 |access-date=29 June 2018}}

Where the spoken form of an eggcorn sounds the same as the original, it becomes a type of homophone.

References

External links

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[https://eggcorns.lascribe.net/ Eggcorn database]

Category:2003 neologisms

Category:Etymology

Category:Lexicology

Category:Acorns