eggcorn means A word or phrase that sounds like and is mistakenly used in a seemingly logical or plausible way for another word or phrase either on its own or as part of a set expression. It carries an Arena rating of 1782, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, eggcorn ranks #279 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #695 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #894 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #930 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
eggcorn is pronounced /ˈɛɡkɔːn/.
Why “eggcorn” is a great word
A seemingly plausible word or phrase substituted for another, similar-sounding one due to a mishearing that creates its own internal logic. Coined in 2003 by linguist Geoffrey K. Pullum, from the specific example 'egg corn' for 'acorn'. Unlike 'folk etymology', which reimagines a word's origin through popular myth, or 'malapropism', which lands with absurd clumsiness, an eggcorn is a private, almost tender misapprehension that retains a kind of sense. It is 'for all intensive purposes' standing in for 'for all intents and purposes', 'old-timer's disease' for 'Alzheimer's', 'ex-patriot' for 'expatriate'—each a small monument to the mind's desire for meaning over accuracy, reshaping the world's gibberish into something it can hold.
Etymology
Suggested by British-American linguist Geoffrey K. Pullum following a discussion on the Language Log website on September 23, 2003, by American linguist Mark Liberman, about a woman who had long believed the word acorn to be egg corn.
noun
- A word or phrase that sounds like and is mistakenly used in a seemingly logical or plausible way for another word or phrase either on its own or as part of a set expression
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.