Eggcorn

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An eggcorn is an idiosyncratic replacement of a word by expressions that sound similar to the speaker and that make a different but plausible sense.

Examples would be retirement homes for Alzheimer's , Strebergarten for allotment gardens, or Badfuß for barefoot. In contrast to Malapropism, Eggcorn has a meaning and, in addition to ignorance of the original word, also proves the logic and creativity of the creator.

Eggcorns often replace unfamiliar, archaic, or obscure words with more modern expressions.

The phrase was coined in 2003 by Geoffrey Pullum on the linguist blog Language Log . His interlocutor, Mark Liberman, had raised the case of a woman who exchanged egg corn for the word acorn and missed an adequate term. Pullum suggested " eggcorn ".

Examples

  • ex-patriot instead of expatriate
  • mating name instead of maiden name
  • preying mantis instead of praying mantis
  • in the standing griffin instead of in the bridge hoop

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language . Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston 2011, ISBN 0-547-04101-2 .
  2. ↑ Mark Peters: Word Watch: The Eggcorn - Lend Me Your Ear Archived from the original on July 9, 2006. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Psychology Today . 39, No. 2, March / April 2006, pp. 18. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / psychologytoday.com
  3. ↑ Staff: The word: Eggcorns , New Scientist. August 26, 2006, p. 52. Retrieved December 21, 2006. LexisNexis link 
  4. ↑ Michael Erard: Analyzing Eggcorns and Snowclones, and Challenging Strunk and White , New York Times . June 20, 2006, p. 4. Retrieved January 17, 2013. 
  5. ↑ expatriate »expatriot . The Eggcorn Database. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
  6. ↑ Emine Saner: Tiny eggcorns, mighty gaffes , The Guardian. October 5, 2006, p. 2. Retrieved June 15, 2009. 
  7. ↑ pray »prey . The Eggcorn Database. Retrieved January 17, 2013.

Web links