Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2011-03-08
I think we’ve all heard the word “prerogative” pronounced/spelled as “perogative.” It may simply be that the proper pronunciation seems so unnatural… perhaps even counterintuitive to the correct spelling. And that might be all that’s going on here. But, just for the sake of argument: is there perhaps something additional happening with the assumed “per-” prefix here? I personally don’t see any imagery, but it’s a topic that we should at least address here in the forum. If anyone has an insight, please chime in. (Do we even have a category for this one?)
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Joe—wouldn’t this fall under Zwicky’s “esculator” category?
The alteration of pre- to per- is really common. A relative of mine always says “perscription,” and sure enough there are 2.2 MILLION raw hits for “perscription” out there. “Perfers” also gets 48k hits.
“Perogative” actually gets mentioned on this pronunciation website (you have to scroll down alphabetically):
The site itself is a bit odd, however. Alhough US-based, it considers “persnickety” an error and recommends that Americans use the British “pernickety.” Weird.
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Yes, you’re right Pat. Probably just an “esculator” (void of any imagery adjustment). I’m a little rusty on the categories, so I lumped it in with the “Slips, innovations and reshapings.” Thanks, as always, for the interesting additional tidbits in your posts.
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