Contribute!
It would be particularly satisfying if The Eggcorn Database became, little by little, a collaborative tool.
There are several ways for you to help improve or support it, to contribute your knowledge, insight, discoveries or resources:
- Drop off your eggcorns in the Eggcorn Forum. You have captured an eggcorn in the wild? Excellent! Mind you, check that it is the right species of animal. Ask yourself whether the non-standard spelling that caught your attention indicates a reinterpretation of the meaning of (part of) the original expression. If so, in the database it goes. But if you are unsure, the forum is the right place to discuss whether your find is an eggcorn or not. The posts referenced on the About page might also be helpful.
- Commentaries on individual entries are, of course, welcome. Unlike the forum, however, the comment area is not a discussion space: It is a place to add data to an existing entry. If you wish to post whimsical observations or questions, or something that is not closely related to a particular entry, please do so in the Eggcorn Forum.
If you are committed to the eggcorn quest and have a taste for adventure, you can register and post draft entries of your own. These will be found and edited by the more experienced contributors. Eventually your submission will appear under your name. Once you have shown that you produce high-quality entries, we will give you full poster status.
Posting directly into the database is not quite as simple as leaving a comment or participating on the forum. The posting back-end is not particularly user-friendly and still needs a lot of work. I consider this project as work in progress (thus the “alpha” version label on the main page), and will add features and improvements as I figure out the needs and get more familiar with coding in PHP. If you wish to familiarize yourself with the process, you can read the Posting HOWTO.
If you appreciate this site and the effort that has gone into creating and maintaining it, a supportive e-mail to eggcorns@lascribe.net is always welcome. Or, in case you can spare a dollar (pound, euro) or two towards hosting fees and bandwidth, I will gratefully accept a donation. The Eggcorn Database is a purely personal endeavor and is not supported by any institution or commercial entity whatsoever.
Happy eggcorn-hunting,
Chris Waigl
(eggcorns@lascribe.net)
**NEW, 2005/10/25!** Changes are afoot at the Eggcorn Database. There is now a forum, with its own space for your contributions and submissions.
While I upgrade the software and work out some problems with the server, I have disabled commenting on the static pages, i.e. those that aren’t part of the eggcorn collection. The existing comments will reappear as soon as I have worked out a persistent bug with the comment display. This page has over 700 comments — some part of the code is choking on them at the moment.
Furthermore, I have disabled direct posting access to the Eggcorn Database for newly registered users. Several of us — Arnold Zwicky, Ben Zimmer, and several occasional contributors in addition to myself — have converged to what could be called a minimum standard of quality for entries. Our own early posts haven’t always conformed to it, and I have edited and improved quite a number of them. More importantly, we seem to agree reasonably well on what exactly an eggcorn is, and what kind of common word substitutions and lexical errors aren’t really of the type we are looking for. The new forum should make it easier to further refine the definition and to bring new posters up to speed.
360
Commentary by Ken Lakritz , 2005/04/23 at 4:11 pm
‘welfair’ for ‘welfare.’ A common eggcorn perpetrated by those who naively think that our welfare policies have to do with fairness. e.g.,
Abolishing welfair and other such programs would remove some of the motivation from people who are looking to come to American for a free ride.
www.pinkpistols.org/answe…
Oh sure, and I’m sure outlawing labor unions and giving absolute control over the worker’s welfair to the corperations is leftist too, right?
www.funender.com/phpBB2/p…
… have a Master’s degree in Social Work and worked for three years in a pilot project for youth with chronic health conditions in a child welfair agency.
msgboard.autismohio.org/m…
359
Commentary by Ken Lakritz , 2005/04/23 at 4:01 pm
‘premedicated’ for ‘premeditated.’ examples-
… the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) \2\ provides for the death penalty for premedicated murder and felony murder…
www.gpoaccess.gov/constit…
The Indictment speaks of premedicated murder with malice aforethought.
www.peltiersupport.org/up…(supplement).doc
… Conservancy wanted his property and he refused to sell, 32 federal agencies conspired in the raid, killing him in cold-blooded, premedicated murder…
www.sierratimes.com/cgi-b…
38 states all ready have the death penalty for premedicated murder.
skankinblog.blogspot.com/…
358
Commentary by Ken Lakritz , 2005/04/23 at 3:55 pm
‘Noble Prize’ for ‘Nobel Prize.’ examples-
China to Have Noble Prize Winner within 20 Years: Scientist
China’s first Noble Prize winner is likely to appear within the next 20 years, said Chen Ning Yang, a winner of the 1957 Noble Prize in physics. …
english.people.com.cn/english/ 200008/08/eng20000808_47637.html
The Pope and the Noble Prize
I can’t help but to think that maybe the Noble Prize committee made a mistake when they did not give the Holy Father the Noble Peace Prize …
www.freerepublic.com/focu…
… The first volume of Churchill’s Noble-Prize winning six-part chronicle of World War II. THE GATHERING STORM depicts the rise of Hitler…
www.mobipocket.com/en/eBo… AuthorDetails.asp?AuthorID=2120
… Irene followed in her mother’s footsteps and achieved the Noble Prize for chemistry. … Soon after, Marie won the 1911 noble prize …
www.amazing-kids.org/writ…
357
Commentary by Patrick Hall , 2005/04/23 at 2:19 pm
Hi Chris,
Here’s one I ran across:
“at your beacon call”
for
“at your beck and call.”
Not too terribly many hits, but seems like an convincing eggcorn to me.
356
Commentary by Ken Lakritz , 2005/04/21 at 2:03 pm
‘avengeance’ for ‘a vengeance.’ Especially in the phrase ‘back with a vengeance.’ 500+ google references, e.g.,
But in 2004, he has returned with avengeance and has appeared on a number of
shows around the world…
www.jedisparadise.co.uk/c…
But don’t worry, next season the long-ball will be back with avengeance.
www.flutterball.com/TopSt…
Boy bands are back with avengeance, seeking their spot in preteens hearts…
skazat.com/justin/current…
He has been training with avengeance since then and should pose a challenge
to two-time Olympian Jason Lezak…
www.usaswimming.org/USASW…
355
Commentary by Ken Lakritz , 2005/04/20 at 9:16 pm
’sacredotal’ for ’sacerdotal.’ 700+ google hits, from writers who have entered their sacredotage. Examples-
… and ye who are clad in the sacred gown, adorned with the celestial crown of
glory, the inspired unction and the sacredotal garment of the Holy spirit. …
lawspublishing.com/restor…
Ordination to the sacredotal office of presbyter/priest will not occur before
the completion of the required course of studies and adequate preparation. …
www.orthodoxchurchofcanad…
Some of these are Special Home Weddings, Funeral Services, House Blessings,
Annointments, Baptismals and other sacredotal services of the church. …
www.gapbra.com/wmcabout.h… - 5k - Cached - Similar pages
Article Nine: We believe in observing the sacredotal ordinances of Water
Baptism (Romans 6:3-11) and The Lord’s Supper…
fccca.org/Doctrinal_State… - 7k
354
Commentary by Ken Lakritz , 2005/04/19 at 2:09 am
’scrapegrace’ for ’scapegrace.’ A first cousin to ’scrapegoat.’ exampes-
… but it is Greg Kinnear as the scrapegrace younger brother with a talent for
romance and no head for responsibility who steals the show. …
www.epinions.com/content_…
… But later not one of these men would have exchanged his heedless scrapegrace
of a boy for the much bepraised paragon of the Court apothecary,…
www.classicreader.com/rea…
Wiltz in particular has constructed a solid, readable series with her scrapegrace Irish Channel PI, Neal Rafferty.
www.mysteryreaders.org/Is…
353
Commentary by Ken Lakritz , 2005/04/18 at 2:55 am
’solopsism’ for ’solipsism.’ I’m unsure whether this is a simple misspelling or the manifestation of an eggcornish urge to locate ’solo’ within ’solipsism.’ It’s common, occurring over 700 times on google:
… But if the Australian will publish the drivelling solopsism of that unmitigated bore, the self-basting Phillip Adams, it will publish anything. …
www.abc.net.au/mediawatch…
… in which they are trying to convince him that radical skepticism(bordering on solopsism) is the ONLY rational way to view life or somesuch nonsense. …
www.ironycentral.com/cgi-…
… is not as though I am walking around in a constant state of existential angst,uncertain of what exists in an active, self-imposed state of solopsism, …
www.ilovephilosophy.com/ phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=1565373
To use the computer as a stand-alone tool, a kind of Hi Tech extension of
the brush or camera, for example, is the ultimate solopsism.
www.mailartist.com/johnhe…
352
Commentary by Ken Lakritz , 2005/04/18 at 2:40 am
‘lip-sing’ for ‘lip-sync.’ Lip-syncing is the practice of pretending to sing by synchronizing your lip movements with a vocal soundtrack. This gets turned into ‘lip-singing,’ which I would understand as appearing to sing with your lips but without a voice, i.e., much the same thing. The eggcorn version turns up 800 times on google. examples-
After baseball, Congress tackles lip-singing. Ashlee Simpson writes new book
exposing the ugly rumors of lip singing on a national level…
www.beansouptimes.com/Con…
Lindsey Lohan Caught Lip Singing. Seems like all the celebrities are getting busted lately!
www.dumpalink.com/post/15…
… the actors were not lip singing, they were actually singing on camera. …
www.slipups.com/items/159…
She cannot act, her lip-singing-sync is limited and - well I can’t go on.
www.jroller.com/page/greg…
351
Commentary by Ken Lakritz , 2005/04/18 at 2:39 am
‘lip-sing’ for ‘lip-sync.’ Lip-syncing is the practice of pretending to sing by synchronizing your lip movements with a vocal soundtrack. This gets turned into ‘lip-singing,’ which I would understand as appearing to sing with your lips but without a voice, i.e., much the same thing. The eggcorn version turns up 800 times on google. examples-
After baseball, Congress tackles lip-singing. Ashlee Simpson writes new book
exposing the ugly rumors of lip singing on a national level…
www.beansouptimes.com/Con…
Lindsey Lohan Caught Lip Singing. Seems like all the celebrities are getting busted lately!
www.dumpalink.com/post/15…
… the actors were not lip singing, they were actually singing on camera. …
www.slipups.com/items/159…
She cannot act, her lip-singing-sync is limited and - well I can’t go on.
www.jroller.com/page/greg…