sleight » slight
Spotted in the wild:
- “I mainly use magic tricks to reduce boredom and to relax students at the beginning of a class,†explained Krevsky, adding that several slight of hand tricks are great examples of medical maladies. (Temple University press release, Jan. 28, 1999)
- “What I do is not slight-of-hand or magic. It’s math, but with a twist,” explains Lamb, who admits he’s always been something of a card shark. (Texas A&M University press release, Sep. 6, 2000)
- For the past 18 years, Eric has traveled the States and abroad, charming both large audiences in stage shows and small groups at family parties with his “slight-of-hand†tricks. (OSU Moritz College of Law press release, Apr. 2003)
Analyzed or reported by:
- Mark Liberman at Language Log (Predicting Random Eggcorns)
- Richard Lederer's Verbivore (Fairly Familiar Phrases, May 5, 2004)
- Paul Brians (Common Errors in English)
The ratio of “sleight of hand” to “slight of hand” on Google’s Usenet archive is about 2.4:1 (38,500:15,800).
Slight was a common spelling variant of sleight through the 18th century, according to the OED.
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