Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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The Eggcorn Forum and the Eggcorn Database are currently in the process of being converted into static sites.
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Chris -- 2025-05-10
I am a teetotaler, and when I used the word the other day, I realized I didn’t know how to spell it. My initial instinct was “teatotaler,” the idea being that someone who doesn’t drink alcohol drinks nothing but tea. I did a Google search and found 5,720 results for the eggcorn compared to 170,000 for the “proper” spelling. There was a suggestion that some of the misspellings are punning, but I myself made the mistake sincerely, so I know they’re out there. Also, the etymology of teetotaler is uncertain, which makes it easier to make the mistake.
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This has been posted on the forum a couple of times. The more recent—and much more elaborate—post was by Kem: http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?id=3357
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