Eggcorn Forum

Anyone serving in the armed forces is technically an enlisted wo/man. But the word “enlisted” has a more restricted meaning in everyday speech: it refers to a person in the armed services who does not hold a commission as an officer. In the vocabulary of the U. S. Army, an enlisted wo/man could be as lowly ranked as a buck private or as highly ranked as a sergeant major. Above the enlisted personnel are warrant officers, ranked by number, and officers, ranked from lieutenant to general. Other military services in the U. S. and around the world use different rankings for their enlisted soldiers and for officers, but almost all of them retain the enlisted/officer distinction in one form or another.

The net has hundreds of example of “unlisted men” in contexts that require “enlisted men.” The substitution of “un” for “en” could be motivated by the negative definition for enlisted personnel (i.e., they are not officers). The swap could also be motivated by status considerations: officers outrank enlisted soldiers, so officers are higher on the social lists.

Three samples of this eggcorn from sources that should know better:

Online abstract of a book : “Marion led a troop of unlisted men called the Volunteers” (http://connection.ebscohost.com/content … AF8.ehctc1)

Timeline summary of a Rotary Club history: “The club won the District Trophy for its work among unlisted men in nearby Army camps.” (http://www.annistonrotary.org/about-us/)

City Council minutes: “Military does not offer low-income housing, however statistics of unlisted men (60%) with families receive some sort of stipend (food stamps etc) because they are unable to live on their military salaries.” (http://www.redshift.com/~mdps/council/1 … 20.MIN.htm)