Eggcorn

Word of the Day

Eggcorn is a noun that refers to a word or phrase that results from a mishearing.

Our word of the day is a very recent addition to English, entering in the early 21st century. It came about by people mishearing the word acorn and instead thinking the word was eggcorn.

Everyday language is full of such mistakes. Here’s an example of it in use:

For years, I heard the phrase ‘for all intents and purposes’ as ‘for all intensive purposes.’ It wasn’t until much later that I learned this was an eggcorn.