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interfere » interfear

Classification: English – questionable

Spotted in the wild:

  • Think about who Death must be as an individual. He needs to be strong, for the emotions of humans may interfear with his duty. He must be merciful, taking lives before thier time, because it’s just the better thing to do. A being of Love, sympathy and strength. (Tarot Forum)

This is a borderline eggcorn: a simple spelling error, based on uncertainty how to render the sound in _interfere_, is more common than the case where anxiety plays a role.

This eggcorn was originally provided by [Matt Read](www.mattread.com/), from his own writing.

| Comments Off link | entered by Chris Waigl, 2004/12/08 |

coma » comma

Chiefly in:   lapse into a comma

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • Jesus’ crucifixion was very unusual. Normally the person would lapse into a comma and die of suffocation. Jesus remained fully conscious and alert, feeling the experience completely, and remaining in total control until He was ready to go. This amazed those who witnessed it. (link)
  • I discuss this issue in advance and ask that I be allowed to die with dignity if I lapse into a comma, become mentally incapable of making my own decisions, etc. etc. (link)

This item is frequent in puns and in many cases could be a simple spelling error.

Sometimes, however, the variant is more likely to be a genuine eggcorn. A comma is often said to indicate a pause. Moreover, other medical terms have homonyms in the field of grammatical meta-language, like _syncope_, meaning a fainting spell.

| 1 comment | link | entered by Chris Waigl, 2004/12/08 |

amused » bemused

Classification: English – hidden

Spotted in the wild:

  • I went into a small grocery store one day looking for a roll of aluminum foil. I couldn’t seem to find it anywhere so I asked the clerk at the checkout counter who listened intently to my request and then said, with a sudden, bemused smile on her face, “Oh, you must be looking for ALUMINIUM foil!” I guessed that I was, yes, I said, with a bemused smile of my own. (link)

Analyzed or reported by:

  • Bill Walsh at Blogslot (link)

The [American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition](www.bartleby.com/61/25/B0…) has the following entry for _bemuse_:

> TRANSITIVE VERB: Inflected forms: be·mused, be·mus·ing, be·mus·es
1. To cause to be bewildered; confuse. See synonyms at daze.
2. To cause to be engrossed in thought.

This is a hidden eggcorn, which means that there is no way to determine with total certainty whether a writer meant _dazed_, _bewildered_, _thoughtful_, or _slightly and quietly amused_. In many cases, however, the context provides some evidence that amusement is a more salient quality of the situation described than thoughtful confusion.

| Comments Off link | entered by Chris Waigl, 2004/12/08 |

rite » right

Chiefly in:   right of passage , last rights

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • Yup, today I went through the real right of passage of a homeowner. I mowed my lawn, and the the suckage was high. (link)
  • Tattoo as Right of Passage into Adulthood (about.com, article title)
  • The latest and most serious report comes from CNN indicating that a Vatican source has revealed that Pope John Paul II received last rites Thursday night. (lifesite.net, March 31, 2005)
  • CNN quoted an unnamed Vatican official who described the situation as serious and said the Pope had received the last rights or the sacrament of the sick, which is not necessarily an indication that John Paul is in any immediate danger of dying. (KWTX.com)

Analyzed or reported by:

Claiming new _rights_ comes with undergoing a _rite_ of passage.

Update, 11 April, 2005: Commenter Dorothy pointed out the expression “last rights”, which indeed gets a quite a few search engine hits. However, by now the error has been corrected in articles on CNN.com, Fox News and ABC.net Australia. The CNN report, which initially contained the eggcorn, seems to have been the source for a number of the other incorrect spellings in the online press.

| 1 comment | link | entered by Chris Waigl, 2004/12/08 |

dander » gander

Chiefly in:   get one's gander up

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • [Y]ou are a git, a stupid arrogant git at that, you’ve hurled ridiculous, childish paranoia at people I respect, you’ve argued irrationally and you have succeeded in getting my gander up (you grotty little man) with every one of your posts. (rec.arts.drwho)
  • However it was Carnfoth who were first on the scoresheet scoring under the posts. This got the Littlemoor men’s gander up and they were soon marching forward into enemy territory, the pack making the hard yards with some powerful driving mauls. (Rugby match report)

Analyzed or reported by:

Mark Liberman [notes](itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/l…) that _dander_ in this expression is not a synonym of cat scurf. Therefore, _dander_ itself would have to be counted as a former hidden eggcorn that has found its way into folk etymology.

As a speculation, the alliteration _**g**et one’s __g__ander up_ may have played a role in the substitution _dander_ > _gander_ (in conjunction with the image of angry fowl).

| 2 comments | link | entered by Chris Waigl, 2004/12/08 |
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