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Meaning of "eggcorn" in the English dictionary

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DICTIONARY
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ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD EGGCORN

Based on the mishearing of acorn as eggcorn, which was considered to be apposite.
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Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF EGGCORN

eggcorn  [ˈɛɡˌkɔːn] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF EGGCORN

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Eggcorn is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES EGGCORN MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Eggcorn

In linguistics, an eggcorn is an idiosyncratic substitution of a word or phrase for a word or words that sound similar or identical in the speaker's dialect. The new phrase introduces a meaning that is different from the original, but plausible in the same context, such as "old-timers' disease" for "Alzheimer's disease". This is as opposed to a malapropism, where the substitution creates a nonsensical phrase. Classical malapropisms generally derive their comic effect from the fault of the user, while eggcorns are errors that exhibit creativity or logic. Eggcorns often involve replacing an unfamiliar, archaic, or obscure word with a more common or modern word. The term eggcorn was coined by a professor of linguistics, Geoffrey Pullum, in September 2003, in response to an article by Mark Liberman on the website Language Log, a blog for linguists. Liberman discussed the case of a woman who substitutes the phrase egg corn for the word acorn, and argued that the precise phenomenon lacked a name. Pullum suggested using "eggcorn" itself as a label for the class of error.

Definition of eggcorn in the English dictionary

The definition of eggcorn in the dictionary is a malapropism or misspelling arising from similarity between the sound of the misspelled or misused word and the correct one in the accent of the person making the mistake.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH EGGCORN


amelcorn
ˈæməlˌkɔːn
barleycorn
ˈbɑːlɪˌkɔːn
broomcorn
ˈbruːmˌkɔːn
Capricorn
ˈkæprɪˌkɔːn
cavicorn
ˈkævɪˌkɔːn
clavicorn
ˈklævɪˌkɔːn
corn
kɔːn
einkorn
ˈaɪnˌkɔːn
lamellicorn
ləˈmɛlɪˌkɔːn
leprechaun
ˈlɛprəˌkɔːn
longicorn
ˈlɒndʒɪˌkɔːn
mungcorn
ˈmʌŋˌkɔːn
naricorn
ˈneɪrɪˌkɔːn
peppercorn
ˈpɛpəˌkɔːn
popcorn
ˈpɒpˌkɔːn
Runcorn
ˈrʌŋˌkɔːn
serricorn
ˈsɛrɪˌkɔːn
tricorn
ˈtraɪˌkɔːn
unicorn
ˈjuːnɪˌkɔːn
wardcorn
ˈwɔːdˌkɔːn

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE EGGCORN

egg tooth
egg white
egg yolk
egg-and-spoon race
egg-binding
egg-bound
egg-shaped
egg-slicer
eggar
eggbeater
egger
eggery
eggfruit
egghead
eggheadedness
eggler
eggless
eggmass
eggnog
eggplant

WORDS THAT END LIKE EGGCORN

bicorn
field corn
green corn
Guinea corn
Indian corn
John Barleycorn
kaffir corn
kafir corn
outscorn
pilcorn
scorn
seed corn
seed-corn
squirrel corn
sugar corn
sweet corn
tropic of Capricorn

Synonyms and antonyms of eggcorn in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «eggcorn» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF EGGCORN

Find out the translation of eggcorn to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of eggcorn from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «eggcorn» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

eggcorn
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

eggcorn
570 millions of speakers

English

eggcorn
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

eggcorn
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

eggcorn
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

eggcorn
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

eggcorn
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

eggcorn
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

eggcorn
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Telur
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

eggcorn
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

eggcorn
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

eggcorn
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Eggcorn
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

eggcorn
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

eggcorn
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

अंडकोर्न
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

eggcorn
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

eggcorn
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

eggcorn
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

eggcorn
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

eggcorn
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

eggcorn
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

eggcorn
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

eggcorn
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

eggcorn
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of eggcorn

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «EGGCORN»

The term «eggcorn» is used very little and occupies the 161.482 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Rarely used
25
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «eggcorn» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of eggcorn
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «eggcorn».

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about eggcorn

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «EGGCORN»

Discover the use of eggcorn in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to eggcorn and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Eggcorn
" This is as opposed to a malapropism, where the substitution creates a nonsensical phrase. Classical malapropisms generally derive their comic effect from the fault of the user, while eggcorns are errors that exhibit creativity or logic.
Stefanu Elias Aloysius, 2012
2
Jokes and the Linguistic Mind
A particular type of morphological reanalysis is the phenomenon now known as the eggcorn.The term “eggcorn” was coined by the linguist Geoffrey Pullum, to describe words that are mis-heard or mis-parsed and given a new and different life.
Debra Aarons, 2012
3
Linguistics for Everyone: An Introduction
“Stupid, contentless political blather,” “Ray Charles, America, and the subjunctive ,” “Latte lingo: Raising a pint at Starbucks,” and “Tightywhities: The semantics.” The blog is also the birthplace of the term eggcorn, a word or phrase erroneously  ...
Kristin Denham, Anne Lobeck, 2012
4
Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare
Invented in 2003 by the linguist Professor Geoffrey Pullum, the name came from the chance sighting of the spelling eggcorn when 'acorn' was meant. The change was not arbitrary: it made some kind of semantic and conceptual sense.
Jeremy Butterfield, 2008
5
The People’s Web Meets NLP: Collaboratively Constructed ...
Eggcorns are lexical errors due to both semantic and phonetic similarity, e. g. eggcorn is itself an eggcorn of the word acorn. The authors searched for cases of word corrections in consecutive revisions rv and rv_1 where corresponding words ...
Iryna Gurevych, Jungi Kim, Nicoletta Calzolari, 2013
6
The Ants are my Friends: Misheard Lyrics, Malapropisms, ...
'Eggcorn'isa name foraparticular kind of misheard word. It was coinedby linguist Mark Lieberman who came across someone who had heard'eggcorn'in the phrase 'great oaks from little acornsgrow'. Lieberman thought that 'eggcorn' was ...
Martin Toseland, 2013
7
Articles on Lexicology, Including: Dialect, Lexicography, ...
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.
Hephaestus Books, 2011
8
The AMA Handbook of Business Writing: The Ultimate Guide to ...
Eggcorn Words that sound similar but that have different meanings may be used by mistake. Such words are called eggcorns. Incorrect: Wet your appetite. Correct : Whet your appetite. e.g., i.e.. 178 Each Other, One Another Each, Their Effect, ...
Kevin Wilson, Jennifer Wauson, 2010
9
An Introduction to English Phonetics
This loss of distinction between originally different words has given rise to some interesting 'eggcorns' – words which are misheard and then given peculiar spellings. ('Eggcorn' is an eggcorn from 'acorn'.) Examples arising from confusion  ...
Richard Ogden, 2009
10
Copyediting and Proofreading For Dummies
The Eggcorn Database (http://eggcorns.lascribe.net): The Eggcorn Database is a one-of-a-kind collection of misheard words and phrases, a lexical account that's not meant to ridicule the errors but to document them. The site explains: “They ...
Suzanne Gilad, 2011

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «EGGCORN»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term eggcorn is used in the context of the following news items.
1
5 Hilariously Old-Timey Phrases Antonin Scalia Used In His …
At first I thought this one was a typo, but that's because so many of us have adopted the eggcorn “hone in” in favor of “home in,” which is apparently the correct ... «Bustle, Jun 15»
2
Decoding Next: Five trends you need to know – speaking emoji …
Either way, these emotional icons are so mass now that emoji made it into this year's dictionary update, along with: NSFW, jeggings , eggcorn ... «The Drum, Jun 15»
3
From a little eggcorn. . . .
We intentionally slipped an eggcorn into that line — something we couldn't have done a week ago because, frankly, we'd never heard of ... «Patheos, Jun 15»
4
Here Are 100 'Eggcorns' That We Say Pass Mustard
An eggcorn, as we reported and as Merriam-Webster puts it, is "a word or phrase that sounds like and is mistakenly used in a seemingly logical ... «WFAE, Jun 15»
5
Sideswipe: Urgent numbers
Mishearing song lyrics - now called "eggcorn" - is also known as mondegreen. according to Max Cryer's book, Who Said That First: "Until 1954 ... «New Zealand Herald, Jun 15»
6
This Is What 'Eggcorns' Are (and Why They're Jar-Droppingly Good)
The term eggcorn, coined by British-American linguist Geoff Pullum, hit a milestone this week when Merriam-Webster added it to their ... «TIME, May 15»
7
Emoji, clickbait and 8 other words that just got added to the dictionary
Eggcorn:Noun. A word or phrase that sounds like and is mistakenly used in a seemingly logical or plausible way for another word or phrase ... «Hamilton Spectator, May 15»
8
Clickbait, Emoji and Meme Among New Words Added to Merriam …
Now here's a new one: Eggcorn. No, it's not a new flavor of quiche or some kind of organic breakfast item. It's a word or phrase that sounds like ... «wnep.com, May 15»
9
(Video) PHT Extra: On Canada's Stanley Cup drought
The latter is an eggcorn. phtjoey - May 14, 2015 at 7:07 PM. WOW! What the heck does winning the SC have to do with a country? You want to ... «NBCSports.com, May 15»
10
14 'eggcorns' to make you laugh, from a 'damp squid', to 'for all …
The term 'eggcorn' was subsequently coined by linguistics professor Geoffrey Pullum, who suggested it to Liberman in an exchange about the ... «Metro, Apr 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Eggcorn [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/eggcorn>. Apr 2024 ».
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