杏吧原创

DO YOU get 鈥渂oggled down鈥� trying to explain things in 鈥渓ame man鈥檚 terms鈥�? When the 鈥渃hickens come home to roast鈥� do you find yourself 鈥渃utting off your nose despite your face鈥�? Do these errors make you want to 鈥渒ill over and die鈥�? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you have laid an eggcorn.

Eggcorns 鈥� derived from a misspelling of 鈥渁corn鈥� 鈥� 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鈥檛 know how to spell the word 鈥渁corn鈥�, then 鈥渆ggcorn鈥� is a logical and satisfying alternative. A layman is certainly lame compared with an expert, and chickens are as likely to roast as roost. What distinguishes such a mistake from an ordinary malaprop 鈥� a word that is unintentionally misused through confusion with one that sounds similar 鈥� is the creativity and logic behind them. Eggcorns make sense at some level. Since they were first described in 2003, linguists have been greedily collecting them. The Eggcorn Database (), launched in February last year, already contains more than 560 examples.

What can we learn from eggcorns? Far from being insignificant errors, eggcorns show how people connect what they have heard with what they know, and they demonstrate one way that standard spelling evolves. Dictionaries contain many words that have been shaped by popular use in an eggcorn-like fashion. 鈥淪traight-laced鈥� and 鈥渏ust desserts鈥�, for example, are now used more often than their original incarnations, 鈥渟trait-laced鈥� and 鈥渏ust deserts鈥�, and 鈥渉one in on鈥� can be an accepted variation of 鈥渉ome in on鈥�.

Eggcorns often involve replacing an unfamiliar or archaic word with a more common one, such as 鈥渙ld-timer鈥檚鈥� disease for Alzheimer鈥檚. Foreign words are particularly ripe for eggcorning, as people attempt to find some meaning to incomprehensible terms. 鈥淐ole slaw鈥� got its name from the Dutch words for cabbage salad, but as it is served cold, many English speakers have turned it into 鈥渃old slaw鈥�. Likewise, the US Peace Corps is often referred to as the Peace Core.

Will eggcorns like these continue to hatch? This is a moot point (or is that a mute point?). While the fluidity of the web allows new spellings to propagate more readily than in the printed form, the huge number of reference books and dictionaries available today tend to fix particular spellings. Anyone waiting with 鈥渂aited鈥� (bated) breath for 鈥渨holescale鈥� (wholesale) changes may have to wait a while.