Eggcorn

An eggcorn is the alteration of a phrase through the mishearing or reinterpretation of one or more of its elements,^[1] creating a new phrase having a different meaning from the original but which still makes sense and is plausible when used in the same context.^[2] Thus, an eggcorn is an unexpectedly fitting or creative malapropism. The autological word "eggcorn" is itself an eggcorn, derived from acorn. Eggcorns often arise as people attempt to make sense of a stock phrase that uses a term unfamiliar to them,^[3] as for example replacing "Alzheimer's disease" with "old-timers' disease",^[2] or William Shakespeare's "to the manner born" with "to the manor born".^[1]

^ ^a ^b "eggcorn". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 24 May 2022. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.), sense 2
^ ^a ^b "eggcorn n.". American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (fifth ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2011. ISBN 978-0-547-04101-8.
^ Butterfield, Jeremy (2008). Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare. Oxford University Press. pp. 57–59. ISBN 978-0-19-923906-1.

[OED-1] "eggcorn". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 24 May 2022. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.), sense 2

[AHD-2] "eggcorn n.". American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (fifth ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2011. ISBN 978-0-547-04101-8.

[Butterfield-3] Butterfield, Jeremy (2008). Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare. Oxford University Press. pp. 57–59. ISBN 978-0-19-923906-1.

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