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Linguistics Start‑class

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This article was nominated for deletion on 21 December 2006. The result of the discussion was keep/speedy keep.

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Changes come slowly; don't chomp on the bit!

Somebody recently added "chomp on the bit" as an eggcorn for "champ on the bit". It was reverted, and I heartily agree. An eggcorn typically adds a bit of information, or humor, or both to the meaning of the original. The phrase "chomp on the bit", as a variation of "champ on the bit", does neither. It is a result of a shift in English. The term "champ" meaning "to bit or chew noisily" has become antiquated and rarely used, and has been replaced by "chomp". See for more. Paulmlieberman (talk) 13:59, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

An eggcorn I encountered in the diaries of the mass-murderer Fred West: "car of van" for "caravan". Nuttyskin (talk) 05:02, 4 April 2017 (UTC) Nuttyskin (talk) 05:02, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

Eggcorn vs. Mondegreen

The article seems to imply that eggcorns are different from mondegreens in some important but unstated way. As far as I can tell they are different words for the same phenomenon, which is fine. Is there any real well sourced linguistic distinction or can we just say that both Geoffrey Pullum and Sylvia Wright both independently noticed the phenomenon and each gave it a different name? Nolandda (talk) 22:27, 31 May 2017 (UTC)

Yes, there is a difference. An eggcorn uses words that sound similar (and have not, as with mondegreens, been misheard) to words or phrases, and have a meaning that is similar to the original term. Example: old-timer's disease for Alzheimer's Disease. A mondegreen, such as wrapped up like a douche, has nothing to do with the original revved up like a deuce. Paulmlieberman (talk) 14:03, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

However, like mondegreens, an eggcorn often arises when a word or expression has been communicated verbally. It may then pass into common currency in a written medium, typically the Internet. Witness all of the sudden and a whole nother. Nuttyskin (talk) 15:16, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

These are all interesting hypotheses about the distinction between the terms. Is there any academic or other authority we can reference to clarify the true difference (assuming one exists). Nolandda (talk) 18:28, 24 August 2017 (UTC)

One place to start might be here, including LanguageLog link. - phi (talk) 18:16, 4 September 2017 (UTC)

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Proposed example

"A great ideal" in place of "a great idea". I can't find a source, but people tend to say this where I'm from and it fits the definition of an eggcorn. Human-potato hybrid (talk) 16:32, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

• bone apple tea instead of bon appétit

1. "Bone Apple Tea". Know Your Meme. 2018-07-03.

Added to the article by User:Robdawg344 04:06, 7 May 2018‎. Moved to talk page by Cnilep (talk) 01:19, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

• pre-madonna instead of prima donna

Added to the article 21:31, 20 July 2018‎ by User:Hferlauto. Moved to talk page by Cnilep (talk) 23:41, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

Proposed examples

• weekday → work day (because one works on weekdays)
• life jacket → light jacket (because they have to be light in order to float on water)
• holiday → holy day (because many holidays are based on religion) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.235.102.246 (talk) 14:23, 14 December 2018 (UTC)
• "Very-close veins" for "varicose veins" (i.e. veins close to the surface of the skin) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Paulmmn (talk • contribs) 23:25, 23 January 2019 (UTC)
• "Hollow deck" for "holodeck", which is a great eggcorn given that there is truly nothing in one! Example from Reddit. Discussion of "hollow deck" on an eggcorn forum (!). Example use (unknown if genuine mistake or ironic) in a quiz. Many more examples can be found via search engine. --X883 (talk) 20:13, 14 February 2019 (UTC)
• "Run the gambit" for "run the gamut".
• "Welsh rarebit" is an old eggcorn for "Welsh rabbit", which was apparently an ethnic sneer.
• "Forlorn hope" for the Dutch expression "verloren hoop".
• "Lay" (transitive) in all its forms for "lie" (intransitive) -- very common now.
• "Load" for "lade", a very ancient eggcorn.

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