# Eggcorns **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 23, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359 "2008-05-23T14:10:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/1 "2008-05-23T14:10:01Z")
in this thread ( [Fourth shoe-clad foot washed ashore... let the wild speculation begin! - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=469117) ), I commented on words or phrases that were almost perfect homonyms with a correct word or phrase, but were thought by their users to be correct and were used repeatedly, like “deep-seeded” instead of “deep-seated”. There ought to be a term for these, I said. As i commented later, they aren’t quite the same as malapropisms. Apparently, some people have taken to calling these “eggcorns”: [http://www.theeditorialeye.com/?action=readEyeExcerpt&contentID=79](http://www.theeditorialeye.com/?action=readEyeExcerpt&contentID=79) [http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000018.html](http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000018.html) i thought I’d pass that along. I never heard the term before, although I’m familiar enough with the concept. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/2 "2008-05-23T14:12:14Z")
It’s worse than I thought. There’s an **Eggcorn Database** : [http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/](http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/) More: > **[Eggcorn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn)** > > An eggcorn is the alteration of a phrase through the mishearing or reinterpretation of one or more of its elements, 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. The 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, as for example replacing "Alzheimer's disease" with "old-timers' Eggcorns... ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/3 "2008-05-23T14:14:12Z")
For a blog based on neat word gimmicks that is _entirely_ too dry. I’ve gotten more smiles out of the _Congressional Record_. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/4 "2008-05-23T16:29:52Z")
Gaaaaah! Don’t encourage them! ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/5 "2008-05-23T16:39:48Z")
I’m surprised that ‘doubled eggs’ is not in that database. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/6 "2008-05-23T16:43:09Z")
Whom should I not encourage? I know linguists. Their sense of humor is awfully twee and arcane. But Arnold Zwicky’s posts are scrupulously without humor of any kind, which gives the whole enterprise an almost creepy feeling. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/7 "2008-05-23T22:25:38Z")
I absolutely love “Old-Timer’s Disease”. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/8 "2008-05-23T23:05:44Z")
[QUOTE=NinetyWt] I’m surprised that ‘doubled eggs’ is not in that database. [/QUOTE] Ahhhh, I get it. Yeah, it works both ways. Cool. Not an eggcorn (unless you have a military background, maybe), but I always chuckle when my husband says someone has “artillery motives”. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/9 "2008-05-23T23:10:06Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] Ahhhh, I get it. Yeah, it works both ways. Cool. Not an eggcorn (unless you have a military background, maybe), but I always chuckle when my husband says someone has “artillery motives”. [/QUOTE] Sometimes, when I’m feeling like I’m awfully close to climbing a tower with an uzi, I do have “artillery motives.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/10 "2008-05-23T23:22:05Z")
I say “grand delusions” instead of “grand illusions”. \* I don’t have any grand delusions of becoming a supermodel.\* 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/11 "2008-05-24T01:25:47Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] Ahhhh, I get it. Yeah, it works both ways. Cool. Not an eggcorn (unless you have a military background, maybe), but I always chuckle when my husband says someone has “artillery motives”. [/QUOTE] Good one. But yeah, I think a eggcorn is technically something that _sounds_ just like the usual phrase, but involves a different word. _Artillery_ for _ulterior_ is more of a malapropism. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/12 "2008-05-24T01:36:04Z")
My first boss used to say “For all intensive purposes.” **Drove me crazy!** ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/13 "2008-05-24T01:51:21Z")
I have known a few people that took their cars into the shop. The diagnosis was bad. Yep, they needed a new Cadillac converter. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/14 "2008-05-24T15:15:29Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] Cadillac converter. [/QUOTE] That one’s in the linked database. It’s a fun read. I thought of another one - people here say “riff-raff” instead of “rip-rap”. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/15 "2008-05-24T16:17:08Z")
Interesting. Can you think of a pacific example? (Dear God, I heard this one last week at a seminar for would-be teachers. :smack: ) ---
**Author:** ![Hogwash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e57/32.png) [@Hogwash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogwash)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/16 "2008-05-24T16:50:33Z")
[QUOTE=NinetyWt] I thought of another one - people here say “riff-raff” instead of “rip-rap”. [/QUOTE] What? It’s supposed to be rip-rap? Are you sure? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/17 "2008-05-24T17:02:19Z")
[QUOTE=Hogwash] What? It’s supposed to be rip-rap? Are you sure? [/QUOTE] Riff-raff are undesirable humans. Rip-rap is rocks. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/18 "2008-05-24T17:31:14Z")
Well, it’s a (Snoop) doggy-dog world. ---
**Author:** ![Hogwash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e57/32.png) [@Hogwash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogwash)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/19 "2008-05-24T17:40:11Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Riff-raff are undesirable humans. Rip-rap is rocks. [/QUOTE] Oh right, I completely missed the point there - I’d never heard of the term ‘rip-rap’ before so thought that the poster was implying that riff-raff was a corrupted version. /Ignorance fought ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359/20 "2008-05-24T18:03:59Z")
[QUOTE=Hogwash] Oh right, I completely missed the point there - I’d never heard of the term ‘rip-rap’ before so thought that the poster was implying that riff-raff was a corrupted version. /Ignorance fought [/QUOTE] I actually meant to reply to **NinetyWt** , as I thought he/she might be mixed up about the terms. [Riprap](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riprap). One that I hear from time to time is “human cry” used in place of “hue and cry”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggcorns/450359.md?page=2)