wrought » rot
Spotted in the wild:
- As you enter my yard, I don’t have the archway as I did last year. This year I have a rot iron gate that is set up diagonally with the walkway that runs up to my porch. (link)
- Reasonably priced, unique rot iron pieces are the specialty at Mexports. (H Texas Online)
- I hesitated for a few minutes as I stared at the rot-iron gate. […] As we parked the car and got out, we made our way to the rot-iron fence that we came to a few days before. (link)
- Plastic flowers in a rot iron pot (link)
Analyzed or reported by:
- commenter Kevin Patterson (on this site)
Todd Daniel, apparently a metalworking specialists, comments:
> One of the most confusing terms in the ornamental metals business is the phrase “wrought iron.” However, the confusion is understandable since even dictionaries cannot agree on a single definition The first thing to clear up is the spelling. Many consumers spell the metal “rod iron” or “rot iron.”
>
> Secondly, when the public talks about wrought iron, they could be referring to one of three things - actual wrought iron, hand forged items, or the “look” of wrought iron. Your challenge is to determine what the customer actually wants.
See also wrought iron » rod iron.
1
Commentary by Ben Zimmer , 2005/04/06 at 7:30 am
As with naught » not, this works best for speakers with the cot/caught merger.