Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
You are not logged in.
Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to
The forum administrator reserves the right to request users to plausibly demonstrate that they are real people with an interest in the topic of eggcorns. Otherwise they may be removed with no further justification. Likewise, accounts that have not been used for posting may be removed.
Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
In his book Mother Tongue (p. 121), Bill Bryson presents his readers with a list of 15 words and asks how many are misspelled. The words in his list are
supercede
conceed
procede
idiosyncracy
concensus
accomodate
impressario
irresistable
rhythym
opthalmologist
diptheria
anamoly
afficianado
caesarian
grafitti
The answer is, of course, that all are misspelled. His point, if it needed to be made, is that English is the train wreck of world othographies.
The word in Bryson’s list that caught my eye was “impressario.†This is, as it turns out, one of the most widely misspelled words in English, with the misspelling “impressario†occurring in published sources once for every twenty examples of the correct “impresario.â€
“Impressario†may also be an eggcorn. The misspelling seems to be based on an analogy with the word “impress.†An impresario, a kind of public event manager, in particular the operator of a theatre or opera company, is unquestionably someone who wants to impress others. Interestingly, the words “impress†and “impresario†do not share an etymology. “Impresario†started life out as the Latin “imprimere,†based on the Latin intensifier “in-“ and the word for “to press.†“Impress†traces its roots to the Latin “prehendere,†to take in hand.
Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.
Offline