Eggcorn Forum

We’ve had showers every day this week. What can I say–it’s March, and it’s Vancouver Island.

Some writers seem to think that a vernal shower is a springkle. They could just be bad spellers, but they may be recalling the (northern hemisphere) wet season or they may be thinking about springs, places where water comes out the ground.

“Springkle” replaces “sprinkle” on hundreds, perhaps thousands, of web pages, but the majority of these references are only indirectly connected with water. Most uses of the verb “springkle” are recipes (“springkle lightly with salt”). Sometimes the plural, “springkles,” is a noun–sprinkles are the small candy fragments decorating sugary confections.

Some samples of “springkle:”

Dieter’s forum post: “It was not as watm as the weather man was promising plus a few springkles of rain.”

UK poster to Tripadvisor: “A few springkles of rain lasting 10 minutes on 2 days. Now snowed in back in the UK!”

Post on Malaysian car club site: “Just do not use jet spray type, only springkle type of water to hose off the soap. ”

Philippine forum: “Maybe if we cultivate and springkle enough water on it, it will grow into…..”

Discussion about picture of dewdrop: “use a bottled water or any, then springkle it! ”

Anime forum: “may the gods springkle her with blessings—her songs were great”