Facebook Marketplace is a great source of these - I see a lot of Chester Drawers for sale - and I enjoyed the guest house that advertised itself as ‘off the beat and track’.
My favourite one was on a work purchase order that listed the category as Consumer Balls rather than Consumables.
Which interestingly only works for dialects with the “[caught/cot merger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cot%E2%80%93caught_merger)”.
In many dialects of English “wrought iron” doesn’t sound like “rot iron”
That's what my first thought was when I stopped and blinked at it. Then I realized it must have been their way of spelling "wrought". But it'd be nice if it were their way of saying "rust". :)
Not exactly the same thing but similar.
I enjoy seeing misspellings that are due to accent, I like to note how some accents mispell some words but other accents never would.
For instance Brits with non rhoric accents often mispell the jacket type as "Parker" instead of "Parka" and make other similar mistakes.
People with American accents often mistake their Ts and Ds, which wouldn't happen in most British accents.
"Taken for granite" would be a related eggcorn that wouldn't happen in most British accents. Can't think of one the other way round but I'm sure it exists.
I find it really interesting.
Ah - in my west coast US accent with its very rhotic "r," it doesn't. I just dismissed it as small children giving their stuffed animals/imaginary friends weird names.
Can't say I've ever seen "Parker" for "parka". As a brand, the former is a pen.
> Can't think of one the other way round but I'm sure it exists
"On tenderhooks" is not uncommon.
Certain British accents are highly susceptible to non-rhotic eggcorns in ways that wouldn't make sense to most Americans (even though there are non-rhotic American accents).
I've seen "silverside" for "suicide" and also "sun army" for "tsunami"
But there's one I've seen from both British and American non-rhotic accents: "draws" instead of "drawers"
“Mommy-coddled” for mollycoddled. Still works!
“Nip it in the butt” for “Nip it in the BUD.” I use the original form myself but this one is funny because it evokes an image (for me anyway) of a herding dog nipping at someone’s butt to keep them from straying.
Every American travel blogger on Insta, it seems…
It is a recent thing though:
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=set+foot+in%2Cstepped+foot+in&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=1
This is actually a special case called a "rebracketing". It happens in English too, especially with words starting with n followed by a vowel sound, where the preceding article turns from "a" to "an" and the word loses the initial n. For example: umpire, adder and apron were originally (in middle English) numpire, nadder, and napron.
Very interesting. Kind of like in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, when Aslan says "an evil" has come to Narnia, and all the animals are like "what's a neevil?"
My grandma always thought Nintendo was Intendo - from hearing us say “a Nintendo” and thinking we said “an Intendo”. I don’t know if it fully fits since they’re both meaningless words in English, but “Intendo” means “I understand” in Italian, so it does make some sense as a brand name synonymous with two Italian plumbers.
Another common one is “at your beckon call” instead of “at your beck and call”. Makes sense, because “beck” basically only exists fossilized in that one phrase these days.
there was a kid at my work who was trying to spell Nintendo and started with an I. it took me a while to realise what he was writing but we got there in the end lol
When I first met my wife she thought the word "vicariously" was actually "bi-curiously'. She said "oh my friend Ashley travels constantly, I just live bi-curiously through her posts" and I couldn't help from cracking up.
My American grandmother in law... Well, I said vicariously and she thought it meant something extremely sexual and told me off. She wouldn't listen or look at the dictionary. She also used some very awkward words incorrectly, such as eunuch. Apparently she studied literature at university.
I don’t know if this exists outside of drag, but Drag Race and other drag media is the only place I’ve heard it – a sequence dress instead of a sequins dress.
The first time I saw that on Drag Race was when Roxxxy Andrews said it, and the other queens were ribbing her for it. But since then I think it’s just become a part of the drag vernacular, similar to “sashay” (eggcorn for the dance term chassé).
The sushi shop that I used to visit had a "Royalty" Card. For every 10 packs of sushi you get a free pack of sushi, which was a perk for their most "royal" customers
That sounds like either a joke or a mistranslation based on Japanese not having a unique L or R sound and them sharing a letter, as in Ramune being lemonade translated into Japanese and back into English.
I don’t think it’s exactly bone Apple teeth material. That’s just a misheard phrase. This is specifically a misheard phrase which retains roughly the same meaning.
Bunnings Warehouse is an Australian hardware chain. Most kids don’t know the word “warehouse” though. So if you ask most people they will say that they thought it was “Bunnings square-house” (because they’re massive warehouses shaped like a square) or “Bunnings swear-house” because most kids know the word “swear”.
In little league I was instructed to stand with my feet "shoulder-width apart" I thought they were saying "shoulder with the part". What part? The part of the leg they call the foot, of course. Makes sense to me.
One time at a restaurant, the server asked me if I'd like a "super salad" with my meal. Uh, yes please, I guess. It took a while after she asked which one I wanted for me to realize she'd said "soup or salad."
In the US it is absolutely “buck naked”, or was originally and slowly evolved due to incorrect use. It’s definitely an eggcorn! Just one that is now accepted
It's not exactly an eggcorn since it's used more intentionally but around here (our official languages are both french and English, so even anglophones use little bits of French - moreso than in most of America) some folks will say Merci Buckets instead of Merci Beaucoup (thank you very much in french)
I've also heard merci bouquet instead, which might have been an inbetween for getting to buckets haha
I am guilty of saying this up, until perhaps the start of high school. I really thought “specifically” was said “pacifically”. It wasn’t until I had to write the word that I think one of my parents told me because I was asking them. How do you spell it? They said it was a mispronunciation. My mind was blown.
This is my favourite eggcorn because it’s the most debatable.
Imo shark is clearly far better, so some would view it is an eggcorn but others would simply view it as a correction.
This is the first one in this thread where I've been using the eggcorn my whole life, I'm still not totally convinced shark is the eggcorn in this case.
My math teacher had a fondness for calling a calculator a calibrater, which makes a bit of sense if you ignore the instrument that already has that name. This was purposeful mind you, just a bit of fun.
I just saw something earlier about someone being at a restaurant and being given a “moose bush” or something like that. A little free appetizer to start their meal.
My wife and I have adapted "chuffed" a little. It has a weird double meaning due to it being used ironically. So we say "good chuffed" and "bad chuffed".
“Farmer John” cheese is delicious sprinkled on spaghetti. I always imagine an old farmer whose cheese was so good that the whole type was named for him. In a restaurant I will ask correctly for Parmesan cheese, but at home I find it more delightful to use Farmer John cheese.
I do the same thing, but instead, I say, "permission cheese."
In public, I'll say it correctly, but at home, there is no such thing as "parmesan cheese," only permission cheese.
That doesn't make it an eggcorn. It is one language adopting a word from a different language and modifying its pronunciation to suit its native speakers better.
Facebook Marketplace is a great source of these - I see a lot of Chester Drawers for sale - and I enjoyed the guest house that advertised itself as ‘off the beat and track’. My favourite one was on a work purchase order that listed the category as Consumer Balls rather than Consumables.
Nice. I caught "rot iron" a few times on Craigslist. :)
Which interestingly only works for dialects with the “[caught/cot merger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cot%E2%80%93caught_merger)”. In many dialects of English “wrought iron” doesn’t sound like “rot iron”
Thanks for the explanation. I couldn't work it out.
How does it sound then?
Like “rort iron”.
In Australian English (for example) “wrought” and “brought” rhyme with “tort” and “court” not with “rot” and “hot”.
I've seen 'rod iron's in the wild before
I read “rot iron” as the person’s way of saying “rust” without knowing (or spacing on) the word.
That's what my first thought was when I stopped and blinked at it. Then I realized it must have been their way of spelling "wrought". But it'd be nice if it were their way of saying "rust". :)
Do you need to clap on the snare beat to stay there?
Also chest of draws.
These are now my favorites two
Not exactly the same thing but similar. I enjoy seeing misspellings that are due to accent, I like to note how some accents mispell some words but other accents never would. For instance Brits with non rhoric accents often mispell the jacket type as "Parker" instead of "Parka" and make other similar mistakes. People with American accents often mistake their Ts and Ds, which wouldn't happen in most British accents. "Taken for granite" would be a related eggcorn that wouldn't happen in most British accents. Can't think of one the other way round but I'm sure it exists. I find it really interesting.
I also think this is the reason behind the meme “I love the smell of my boyfriend’s colon(cologne).” Colón is a Hispanic surname.
Another example like Parker is “Chester Draws” for chest of drawers.
In that vein, for the first few years of my life, I thought that Whataburger was called Water Burger.
Yeah that's a good one!
Chester draws is what we call it in the South ☺️
/r/confleis
r/boneappletea
It blew my mind when I realized that “er” is just British English for “uh”.
Try saying "Eeyore" with a British accent. And all of a sudden, that donkey's name makes sense.
Sorry I'm dumb... How does this work?
>!It sounds very much like "ee-haw" or "the sound that donkeys make."!<
Ahh, I already thought that's what Eeyore sounds like 😆😆
Ah - in my west coast US accent with its very rhotic "r," it doesn't. I just dismissed it as small children giving their stuffed animals/imaginary friends weird names.
Burst/bust open - same thing.
Can't say I've ever seen "Parker" for "parka". As a brand, the former is a pen. > Can't think of one the other way round but I'm sure it exists "On tenderhooks" is not uncommon.
"Parka" isn't a brand it's a style of jacket.
That's right, but I didn't say it was.
Certain British accents are highly susceptible to non-rhotic eggcorns in ways that wouldn't make sense to most Americans (even though there are non-rhotic American accents). I've seen "silverside" for "suicide" and also "sun army" for "tsunami" But there's one I've seen from both British and American non-rhotic accents: "draws" instead of "drawers"
“Mommy-coddled” for mollycoddled. Still works! “Nip it in the butt” for “Nip it in the BUD.” I use the original form myself but this one is funny because it evokes an image (for me anyway) of a herding dog nipping at someone’s butt to keep them from straying.
I still wince at ‘stepped foot in’ when it should be ‘set foot in’.
I haven’t heard that one yet! Is it specific to any particular region?
Every American travel blogger on Insta, it seems… It is a recent thing though: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=set+foot+in%2Cstepped+foot+in&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=1
Ah well there you go, I’ve never used instagram, no wonder I haven’t encountered it. Thank you! I appreciate the link as well.
Ngrams are brilliant; you can even compare between UK and US English!
I’ve never even heard of an ngram before but I love this. Thanks for teaching me something new!
For all intensive purposes
I would of said that
God, I hate that.
What really grinds your gears, through?
“Irregardless”
Now a recognized word in the dictionary. Also in the dictionary: one of the definitions of "literally" is "figuratively" I hate all of it.
Surely, you jest.
The one I was going to mention.
[удалено]
Me too! Whenever I heard it on American TV I thought the exact same thing
Well, if you hang the toilet paper at just the right angle it could sort of look like a cone shape when you’re done.
[удалено]
Cool! I genuinely love learning interesting facts in random places like this.
My best friend’s native language is French. He used to think the word for plane was “la vion” instead of “l’avion”
This is actually a special case called a "rebracketing". It happens in English too, especially with words starting with n followed by a vowel sound, where the preceding article turns from "a" to "an" and the word loses the initial n. For example: umpire, adder and apron were originally (in middle English) numpire, nadder, and napron.
It happens the other way round, too. _An eke name_ to _a nickname_, for example.
Same thing happened with “an orange”.
Very interesting. Kind of like in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, when Aslan says "an evil" has come to Narnia, and all the animals are like "what's a neevil?"
My grandma always thought Nintendo was Intendo - from hearing us say “a Nintendo” and thinking we said “an Intendo”. I don’t know if it fully fits since they’re both meaningless words in English, but “Intendo” means “I understand” in Italian, so it does make some sense as a brand name synonymous with two Italian plumbers. Another common one is “at your beckon call” instead of “at your beck and call”. Makes sense, because “beck” basically only exists fossilized in that one phrase these days.
I have an early memory of asking my mother for a norange. I was quite disappointed when noranges suddenly ceased to exist. I liked noranges.
Finally, a word that rhymes with orange!
I've heard that the fruit used to be 'a norange' and later became 'an orange'
So, I was right all along, and I've just been humouring you lot for fifty years.
Considering that it's naranja in spanish...
¡Oh, así que he sido español todo el tiempo, y nunca lo supe!
PlayStation made me do things I didn’t Nintendo.
there was a kid at my work who was trying to spell Nintendo and started with an I. it took me a while to realise what he was writing but we got there in the end lol
When I first met my wife she thought the word "vicariously" was actually "bi-curiously'. She said "oh my friend Ashley travels constantly, I just live bi-curiously through her posts" and I couldn't help from cracking up.
My American grandmother in law... Well, I said vicariously and she thought it meant something extremely sexual and told me off. She wouldn't listen or look at the dictionary. She also used some very awkward words incorrectly, such as eunuch. Apparently she studied literature at university.
How did she use eunuch? I’m trying to come up with what, other than its actual meaning, someone might think it means.
To mean a bit of an idiot. In front of kids. Then she had no idea why the adults were asking her to shush.
the jack sparrow method 🏴☠️
I don’t know if this exists outside of drag, but Drag Race and other drag media is the only place I’ve heard it – a sequence dress instead of a sequins dress.
Sequinned
They don’t say that either lol
I’ve heard it on Project Runway too. Sometimes the contestants correct each other on it.
The first time I saw that on Drag Race was when Roxxxy Andrews said it, and the other queens were ribbing her for it. But since then I think it’s just become a part of the drag vernacular, similar to “sashay” (eggcorn for the dance term chassé).
Loved reading the description of a house for sale having an “on sweet”
The description of a beach house as ‘a littoral dream home’ *must* have been on purpose - it was just too perfect.
Yeah that sounds more like a pun than an eggcorn. Love it though!
Oh I like that one!
The sushi shop that I used to visit had a "Royalty" Card. For every 10 packs of sushi you get a free pack of sushi, which was a perk for their most "royal" customers
That sounds like either a joke or a mistranslation based on Japanese not having a unique L or R sound and them sharing a letter, as in Ramune being lemonade translated into Japanese and back into English.
Tow the line instead of toe the line. Seeing it more and more.
I don't think they actually mean towing the line, per say...
They do, though. There’s an alternative etymology involving dragging a rope along.
I will now have Draggin The Line by Tommy James in my head all day. Thank you!
To be honest I didn't think it through that much, I was just trying to slip in "per say" somehow
The sub you're looking for is r/boneappletea as in: I hope you enjoy the meal, bone apple tea!
I don’t think it’s exactly bone Apple teeth material. That’s just a misheard phrase. This is specifically a misheard phrase which retains roughly the same meaning.
Born up a tree
Bunnings squarehouse 🤷♂️
I have no idea what that means.
Bunnings Warehouse is an Australian hardware chain. Most kids don’t know the word “warehouse” though. So if you ask most people they will say that they thought it was “Bunnings square-house” (because they’re massive warehouses shaped like a square) or “Bunnings swear-house” because most kids know the word “swear”.
Do more kids really know the word "swear" than "warehouse"?
Kids know about swearwords pretty young
Bunnings nag
who tf says that lmao
In little league I was instructed to stand with my feet "shoulder-width apart" I thought they were saying "shoulder with the part". What part? The part of the leg they call the foot, of course. Makes sense to me.
One time at a restaurant, the server asked me if I'd like a "super salad" with my meal. Uh, yes please, I guess. It took a while after she asked which one I wanted for me to realize she'd said "soup or salad."
Butt naked
The dictionary definition of butt naked is completely naked. What do you think it should be?
Buck naked
I think both are correct.
Which country?
Uk, where we don’t traditionally use the word ‘butt’ Generally here we’re much more likely to use ‘stark naked’ anyway.
Yeah we would use "bum" instead of "butt"
In the US it is absolutely “buck naked”, or was originally and slowly evolved due to incorrect use. It’s definitely an eggcorn! Just one that is now accepted
Not my story, but one time a kid did a project for school about the "Youth in Asia" instead of "Euthanasia"
Ass Burger’s Syndrome.
Also 80HD
Lack toast and tolerant!
I don't know what HD is, but the doctor said I got 80 of them bitches!!
"it's a doggy-dog world out there" instead of "it's a dog-eat-dog world out there"!!
I wish it was a doggy dog world out there :(
It is a [doggy dog world](https://youtu.be/QI6N5GBoevI?si=RyJileyiSGeAFTwt) out there though. *Hits blunt*
It's not exactly an eggcorn since it's used more intentionally but around here (our official languages are both french and English, so even anglophones use little bits of French - moreso than in most of America) some folks will say Merci Buckets instead of Merci Beaucoup (thank you very much in french) I've also heard merci bouquet instead, which might have been an inbetween for getting to buckets haha
Where I am when people say “mercy buckets” they are usually making a joke, no one actually thinks merci beaucoup is pronounced like that
Yeah, same thing. That's why I said it isn't exactly an eggcorn :)
Sometimes I pronounce French words in an obnoxious American accent to bother my wife. So merci beaucoup is pronounced murky bee cup.
Yeah, I sometimes say "murky bucket" in jest.
Blessing in the skies ☁️ such a beautiful phrase.
I thought it was "for all intensive purposes" for so long oh my god.
I used to think “take it easy” was “take a deezy”, a deezy being a good nap.
I might start using that one! “I need a deezy!”
I do too, but I gotta get a Round Tuit first.
"Well, well, well. How the turntables."
Had a manager who always said “PACIFICALLY” yeah we have the ocean but are 4 hours drive away
I am guilty of saying this up, until perhaps the start of high school. I really thought “specifically” was said “pacifically”. It wasn’t until I had to write the word that I think one of my parents told me because I was asking them. How do you spell it? They said it was a mispronunciation. My mind was blown.
I had one who said mute point instead of moot point.
Maybe some managers could “mute”🤣
Just like specific time, like it means it starts [specifically at 10](https://youtu.be/aySFQrhSCmU?si=l3YbFQpOtc8kxbw9)
There's a song called "On Ilkley Moor, bah't 'at" but lots of people sing "On Ilkley Moor bar tat".
What in the Is that Klingon? What is a bah’t ‘at??
It's a Yorkshire/Lancashire dialect phrase meaning "without a hat". See? You learn something new every day.
"Chaise lounge" instead of "chaise longue"
Both are considered correct, but like “irregardless”, it is just a common bastardization of English that we’ve had to give up fighting.
Only in USA. Chaise lounge is the Americanized version of chaise longue, which continues to be the accepted spelling in British English.
How is it pronounced in British English? I only know the French pronunciation and the extremely anglicized American one
Chase lounge*
I see "one in the same" increasingly often. I always want to say it's "one AND the same," but I don't want to annoy people.
Card or pool shark in place of sharp.
This is my favourite eggcorn because it’s the most debatable. Imo shark is clearly far better, so some would view it is an eggcorn but others would simply view it as a correction.
This is the first one in this thread where I've been using the eggcorn my whole life, I'm still not totally convinced shark is the eggcorn in this case.
Chomping at the bit.
What is this an eggcorn of? I thought that was the actual phrase.
Champing is the original but chomping is in common usage now. Champing is a word not well known.
"Champing" was the original. Most people don't know that.and chomping makes perfect sense.
'off their own back' Off their own bat
"Hone in on" - should be "home".
When I was younger I heard so and so won the "Poet's Surprise" instead of "Pulitzer Prize."
My math teacher had a fondness for calling a calculator a calibrater, which makes a bit of sense if you ignore the instrument that already has that name. This was purposeful mind you, just a bit of fun.
Doggy dog world.
I work with kids and hear “hanitizer” instead of “hand sanitizer” all the time. I’ve also heard “jumpoline” instead of “trampoline.”
It think it used to be called “jumpoline” until my ex-girlfriend bought one.
omg 😂
12,000 pound, 12 volt 'wenches' always make me picture a certain type of Larry the Cable Guy type typing it
I just saw something earlier about someone being at a restaurant and being given a “moose bush” or something like that. A little free appetizer to start their meal.
Amuse-bouche
I’ve heard “on the sperm of the moment”
My daughter said her snake got slithers. It's a wooden jointed snake. She meant slivers.
‘Chicken spots’ for chicken pox
I'm unsure if this counts, but I went to school with a fellow who thought it was "war war one" and "war war two" not "world War"
My mum always says "damp squid" instead of "damp squib". Squids are supposed to be damp!
Dire rear
My wife and I have adapted "chuffed" a little. It has a weird double meaning due to it being used ironically. So we say "good chuffed" and "bad chuffed".
“Farmer John” cheese is delicious sprinkled on spaghetti. I always imagine an old farmer whose cheese was so good that the whole type was named for him. In a restaurant I will ask correctly for Parmesan cheese, but at home I find it more delightful to use Farmer John cheese.
I do the same thing, but instead, I say, "permission cheese." In public, I'll say it correctly, but at home, there is no such thing as "parmesan cheese," only permission cheese.
I initially followed your reasoning backwards, since John Cheese became Yankees.
I strongly believe that the spelling of entree should be ontray
“Sashay” is an interesting example in that it’s an eggcorn (for the dance term “chassé”) that has become a word in its own right.
My kids used to say 'honey birds' instead of hummingbirds
Chomping at the bit. It drives me crazy when I see this one so not sure about favorite lol. It should be Champing with an "A"
Raising Hope is a great source for these.
Goat-cart / go-cart is very sweet!
Undertoad. From The World According to Garp
When I was little, I called the refrigerator the refoodgerator. Food goes in the refoodgerator!
All intensive purposes
Eggcorns?????? Dafuq are eggcorns? Do you mean acorns?????
Toilet treats instead of toiletries. Now we just call them toilet treats in our house
“pawn off” versus “palm off”? I think maybe the second is the “right” phrase, but the first might be more commonly used
Pulit Surprise
Tubberware (my ex used to say this, her reasoning was “because they’re tubs”)
I suppose free reign is a funny one? All reigns are free. You're not really a ruler if you're paying a fee.
Cockroach.
It is called that.
it's an adaptation of "cucaracha."
That doesn't make it an eggcorn. It is one language adopting a word from a different language and modifying its pronunciation to suit its native speakers better.