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What is an eggcorn?

Question #148328. Asked by serpa.
Last updated Mar 05 2021.
Originally posted Mar 05 2021 11:08 AM.

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pennie1478
Answer has 9 votes
Currently Best Answer
pennie1478
21 year member
225 replies avatar

Answer has 9 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
Eggcorns are words or phrases that are spoken (or written) when other words or phrases are meant. For example, all intensive purposes is an Eggcorn. The actual phrase is all intents and purposes.

link https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/06/01/411231029/here-are-100-eggcorns-that-we-say-pass-mustard

Mar 05 2021, 12:26 PM
wellenbrecher star
Answer has 4 votes
wellenbrecher star
19 year member
548 replies

Answer has 4 votes.
The term "eggcorn" was coined by Geoffrey Pollum, a Scottish linguist and professor of General Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh when discussing with his American colleague Mark Lieberman on a blog for linguists.
The term eggcorn (...) was coined by professor of linguistics Geoffrey Pullum in September 2003 in response to an article by Mark Liberman (...). Liberman discussed the case of a woman who substitutes the phrase "egg corn" for the word "acorn", and he argued that the precise phenomenon lacked a name. Pullum suggested using eggcorn itself as a label.

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_K._Pullum

Response last updated by wellenbrecher on Mar 05 2021.
Mar 05 2021, 4:47 PM
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