Spotted in the wild:
Very often used in “forum speak”, which should probably have a section all its own.
Spotted in the wild:
Spotted in the wild:
Confusion (or semantic interference) between _wonder_ and _wander_ is quite old. See for instance the eggcorn/pun _wonderlust_ for _wanderlust_, playfully used by Sinclair Lewis in Main Street (1920):
“I know. The Wonderlust — probably it’s a worse affliction than the Wanderlust. I just wonder — ”
Many of the above examples seem to suggest the act of “wandering while wondering” (cf. “I Wonder as I Wander,” the title of an Appalachian folk song collected by John Jacob Niles and also an autobiography by Langston Hughes).
The first, recent (usenet) example was my first sighting of this error. The second (usenet) example is the earliest I’ve found, dated 1996. It’s quite rare, and hardly seen outside forums.
Spotted in the wild:
Analyzed or reported by:
The confusing ambiguity in the expression _to the manor/manner born_ should also be noted here. Arnold Zwicky mentioned it in his post Still on the eggcorn beet.
The Columbia Guide to Standard American English tells us:
> These words are homophones, manner meaning “a mode of behavior†(see also KIND), manor, “a house or mansion and its land.†To the manner born is an idiom meaning “from birth accustomed to the behavior expected and therefore able to meet the standards easily,†and To the manor born is an idiom meaning “accustomed as from birth to the ways and demands of being landed gentry.†Manner appears to have the stronger literary sanction (see Hamlet I.iv.15), but both forms of the idiom are in use in Standard English.
_To the manor born_ has about three times the number of Google hits as _to the manner born_, but this could be simply because there is a British comedy of that name.