An eggcorn is the alteration of a word or phrase through the mishearing or reinterpretation of one or more of its elements,^[1] creating a new phrase that is plausible when used in the same context.^[2] Thus, an eggcorn is an unexpectedly fitting or creative malapropism. Eggcorns often arise as people attempt to make sense of a stock phrase that uses a term unfamiliar to them,^[3] as for example replacing “Alzheimer’s disease” with “old-timers’ disease”,^[2] or William Shakespeare‘s “to the manner born” with “to the manor born”.^[1] The autological word “eggcorn” is itself an eggcorn, derived from acorn.

Eggcorns arise when people attempt to use analogy and logic to make sense of an expression – often a stock one – that includes a term that is not meaningful to them.^[3] For example, the stock expression “in one fell swoop” might be replaced by “in one foul swoop”, the infrequently used adjective “fell” (for “fierce”, “cruel”, or “terrible”^[4]) being replaced with the more common word “foul” in order to convey the cruel/underhand meaning of the phrase as the speaker understands it.^[3]

Eggcorns are of interest to linguists as they not only show language changing in real time, but can also shed light on how and why the change occurs.^[3]

The term egg corn (later contracted into one word, eggcorn) was coined by professor of linguistics Geoffrey Pullum in September 2003 in response to an article by Mark Liberman on the website Language Log, a group blog for linguists.^[5] In his article, Liberman discussed the case of a woman who had used the phrase egg corn for acorn, and he noted that this specific type of substitution lacked a name. Pullum suggested using egg corn itself as a label.^[6]

• “baited breath” for “bated breath“^[3][7][8]
• “beckon call” for “beck and call“^[9]
• “damp squid” for “damp squib“^[10]
• “deep seeded” for “deep seated“^[11]
• “ex-patriot” for “expatriate“^[12]
• “the feeble position” for “the fetal position“^[13]
• “for all intensive purposes” for “for all intents and purposes“^[14]
• “free reign” for “free rein“^[15]
• “in one foul swoop” for “in one fell swoop“^[3]
• “jar-dropping” for “jaw-dropping“^[13]
• “just desserts” for “just deserts“^[16]
• “old-timers’ disease” for “Alzheimer’s disease“^[2][13]
• “old wise tale” for “old wives’ tale“^[17]
• “on the spurt of the moment” for “on the spur of the moment“^[18]
• “preying mantis” for “praying mantis“^[3]
• “real trooper” for “real trouper“^[19]
• “ripe with…” for “rife with…”^[7]
• “scandally clad” for “scantily clad“^[20]
• “to the manor born” for “to the manner born“^[1]
• “wet your appetite” for “whet your appetite”^[21]

Eggcorns are similar to but distinct from several other linguistic expressions:^[22]

• Where a folk etymology is a change in the form of a word caused by widespread misunderstanding of the word’s etymology, an eggcorn may be limited to one person rather than being used generally within a speech community.^[6][3]
• A malapropism generally derives its effect from a comic misunderstanding of the user, often creating a nonsensical phrase; an eggcorn on the other hand is a substitution that exhibits creativity or logic.^[18]
• A mondegreen is a misinterpretation of a word or phrase, often within the lyrics of a specific song or other type of performance, and need not make sense within that context.^[23] An eggcorn must still retain something of the original meaning,^[23] as the speaker understands it, and may be a replacement for a poorly understood phrase rather than a mishearing.
• In a pun, the speaker or writer intentionally creates a humorous effect, whereas an eggcorn may be used or created by someone who is unaware that the expression is non-standard.^[24]

Where the spoken form of an eggcorn sounds the same as the original, it becomes a type of homophone.