| eggcorn |
| Definition: When a person substitutes a word or phrase for a word or phrase that both (1) sounds similar and (2) makes sense in the speaker's language. |
| Example:
(1) Saying duck tape instead of duct tape (2) Saying for all intensive purposes instead of for all intents and purposes |
| Etymology: According to the Wikipedia: "The term was coined by Geoffrey Pullum in September 2003, in response to an article by Mark Liberman on the website Language Log, a blog for linguists. Liberman discussed the case of a woman who substituted the phrase egg corn for the word acorn, arguing that the precise phenomenon lacked a name; Pullum suggested using eggcorn itself." |