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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