at and t cellular: Word of the Day: Eggcorn

Sunday, January 7, 2024

Sunday, January 7, 2024

Today's Word Brought to You By

Eggcorn

noun

1. A word or phrase that results from a mishearing or misinterpretation of another, an element of the original being substituted for one that sounds very similar or identical (e.g., "tow the line" instead of "toe the line").

"I couldn't stop laughing at the silly mistake I made with the eggcorn."

"'Intensive purposes' is an eggcorn, but people will still understand what you mean."

"Sometimes you can only tell an eggcorn in writing, because the versions are pronounced the same."

Today's Word Brought to You By

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English, early 21st century

Did you say "acorn"? No — "EGGCORN." That's what a group of linguists came up with to name the phenomenon of mishearing and repeating a word or phrase so often that the "wrong" version becomes commonly used. ...