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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 The term "champ" meaning "to bit or chew noisily" has become antiquated and rarely used, and has been replaced by "chomp".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
- "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)
- I support the addition of 'Bone apple tea' as it is particularly famous. Jamgoodman (talk) 19:13, 31 July 2019 (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
- damp squib → damp squid (as seen on The IT Crowd) — Preceding unsigned comment added by HammurabisTurnips (talk • contribs) 15:59, 9 October 2019 (UTC)
- 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.
- " has a swelter of issues himself" for "welter".
- "Settling torch" for "Acetylene Torch". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.188.51.96 (talk) 00:43, 2 November 2019 (UTC)
- abject lesson (object lesson)
- all and all (all in all)
- another thing coming (another think coming)
- beckon call (beck and call)
- biting my time (biding my time)
- bold-face lie (bald-face lie)
- chomp at the bit (champ at the bit)
- day in age (day and age)
- deep-seeded (deep-seated)
- doggy-dog world (dog-eat-dog world)
- jerry-rigged (jury-rigged)
- pass mustard (pass muster)
- Old-Timers' Disease (Alzheimer's Disease)
- one in the same (one and the same)
- take it for granite (take it for granted)
- towing the line (toeing the line)
- worse comes to worse (worse comes to worst) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.66.142.147 (talk) 23:16, 19 September 2019 (UTC)
Htroberts (talk) 17:27, 17 July 2019 (UTC)
- I support the addition of "Welsh rarebit" and "doggy-dog world" but few other examples you've listed are very common. Jamgoodman (talk) 19:15, 31 July 2019 (UTC)
Proposed additions November 2019
Out of the previous list, some don't really seem like eggcorns, or likely mistakes, but I've definitely seen "beckon call" in print multiple times. Recommend adding it.
I'd also like to suggest adding "Phoenician blinds" for "Venetian blinds". I know perfectly well that they're "Venetian", but for some reason I sometimes hear "Phoenician" when people mention them—and it turns out that people have been making that mistake since at least 1893: here, in the Ohio Educational Monthly, vol. XLII, Samuel Findley, Akron, Ohio, and collected in Marshall Brown's Bulls and Blunders, Lakeside Press, Chicago (1893), repeated in Humour of Bulls and Blunders, University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1906), among others; here it is in Tom Robbins' novel, Skinny Legs and All, Bantam (1990), and Richard Lederer's The Revenge of Anguished English, Macmillan (2007). P Aculeius (talk) 23:12, 18 November 2019 (UTC)
- Thanks P Aculeius, but both examples sound like regular malapropisms rather than eggcorns. Please see Talk:Eggcorn/Archive_4#Proposal_to_radically_reduce_the_number_of_examples for why it's best if we stick with clear, unambiguous examples. Adrian J. Hunter 23:52, 18 November 2019 (UTC)