wrought » rot

Chiefly in:   rot iron

Classification: English – cot/caught merger

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:

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.

| link | entered by Chris W. (admin), 2005/04/04 |

Commentaries

  1. 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.

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