• This is a “Word of the Day" thread, to reply to this thread please come up with a sentence with the given word. More details.

Word of the Day - Eggcorn

StarSong

Awkward is my Superpower
I came across this quite by accident and love that there's actually a word describing these.

Eggcorn - noun
plural eggcorns

: a word or phrase that sounds like and is mistakenly used in a seemingly logical or plausible way for another word or phrase either on its own or as part of a set expression
Eggcorns … are a particular type of language error. Though incorrect, eggcorns are often more satisfying or poetic than the correct word or expression. If you didn't know how to spell the word "acorn," then "eggcorn" is a logical and satisfying alternative.—New Scientist

Once described as a "slip of the ear," an eggcorn is the written expression of a plausible mishearing of a standard term. "For all intents and purposes," for example, is a set phrase—inherently redundant, perhaps, but it's the idiom. It gets misheard, though, as "for all intensive purposes," and sometimes appears that way in print. That's an eggcorn.—Ruth Walker

This kind of phrase was named an "eggcorn" by Geoffrey Pullum, a linguist, in 2003, after that mishearing of "acorn". Many of them are quite logical, such as "wipe board" for "whiteboard", or "card shark" for "card sharp".—The Independent (London)
 

So then, an eggcorn is something  written in a different way,

due to
having been  misheard in the past?

Do I understand that O.P. correctly?:unsure:
 

And if so, then is the specific eggcorn, likely to be written in that manner by many people, and repeatedly, thereafter?
 
Wow. What a great word! I'm guilty of misunderstanding two out of the three examples. So instead of calling someone a Card Shark, you should refer to them as Card Sharp? Thanks for enlightening us!
Thanks! I happened across it and thought it was wonderful! Eggcorn - acorn. Too funny!!!
 


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