100 ‘Eggcorns’ Suggested By NPR’s Audience

When Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon and NPR Standards & Practices
Editor Mark Memmott talked about “eggcorns,” they asked listeners and NPR.org
users to send in some of their favorites.
An eggcorn, according to Merriam-Webster, is “a word or phrase that sounds like
and is mistakenly used in a seemingly logical or plausible way for another word or
phrase.” One of the most common is “for all intensive purposes,” when the speaker
really means “for all intents and purposes.”
We read through several thousand Facebook posts, emails, comments and
#wordmatters tweets. Here are 100 of the suggestions sent in by the NPR audience.

"agreeance," a combination of agreement & acceptance
"another thing coming" instead of “another think” (Though many say it’s the
other way around and “another thing” is arguably more common now.)
"ascared" instead of “afraid”
“as dust fell” instead of “as dusk fell”
"biting my time" instead of “biding”

"best thing since life's bread" instead of “sliced bread”
"bond fire" instead of “bonfire”
"buck naked" instead of “butt naked” (though some say it’s the other way around)
"callapitter" instead of “caterpillar”
"chesterdraws" instead of “chest of drawers”

 "chicken spots" instead of “chicken pox”
"civilware" instead of “silverware”
"close-a-phobia" instead of “claustrophobia”
"consinct" instead of “concise”
"curly roads" instead of “curvy roads”

"daring-do" instead of “derring-do”
"die-a-rear" instead of “diarrhea”
"doggy-dog-world" instead of “dog-eat-dog”
"Duck Tape" (a brand) instead of “duct tape”
"escape goat" instead of “scape goat”

"expresso" instead of “espresso”
"Extreme Court" instead of “Supreme Court”
"eyebulbs" instead of “eyeballs”
"Facetube" instead of “YouTube”
"flush out" instead of “flesh out”

"flustrated" instead of “frustrated”
"flutterby" instead of “butterfly”
"free examples" instead of “free samples
"gander up"(or “dandruff up”) instead of “dander up”
"genetic brands” instead of “generic brands”

 "growth sprout" instead of “growth spurt”
"guilt trap" instead of “guilt trip”
"handy-downs" instead of “hand-me-downs”
"happy as a clown" instead of “happy as a clam”
"hearbuds" instead of “earbuds”

"Heimlich remover" instead of “Heimlich maneuver”
"hell in a handbag" instead of “hell in a hand basket”
"hysterical marker" instead of “historical marker”
"ice tea" instead of “iced tea”
"illicit a response" instead of “elicit a response”

"in other worlds" instead of “in other words”
"jig-solve puzzles" instead of “jigsaw puzzles”
"John Henry" instead of “sign your John Hancock”
"junk-start" instead of “jump-start”
"just deserves" instead of “just deserts”

"labtop" instead of “laptop”
"lapkin" instead of “napkin”
"last stitch effort" instead of “last ditch effort”
"lesser of two equals" instead of “lesser of two evils”

 "magnaphone" instead of “megaphone”

"medium strip" instead of “median strip”
"mist of things" instead of “midst of things”
"mute point" instead of “moot point”
"nerve-wrecking" instead of “nerve-racking”
"nip it in the butt" instead of “nip it in the bud”

"nose drills" instead of “nostrils”
"old-timers disease" instead of “Alzheimer's disease”
"old wise tale" instead of “old wives’ tale”
"on the land"(or “on the lamb”) instead of “on the lam”
"optical delusion" instead of “optical illusion”

"out of bounce" instead of “out of bounds”
"ostenspacious" instead of “ostentatious”
"overfloating" instead of “overflowing”
"overhauls" instead of “overalls”
"pass mustard" instead of “pass muster”

“physical policy" instead of “fiscal policy”
"platemats" instead of “placemats”
"pre-Madonna" instead of “prima donna

 "radar detester" instead of “radar detector”
"rebel rouser" (or “rubble rouser) instead of “rabble rouser”

"real goal-getter" instead of “real go-getter”
"rot-iron fences" instead of “wrought-iron fences”
"scandally clad" instead of “scantily clad”
"self-compelled mower" instead of “self-propelled mower”
"self of steam" instead of “self esteem”

"sick sense" instead of “sixth sense
"skyscratcher" instead of “skyscraper”
"soul poppers" instead of “soap operas”
"stand at a tension" instead of “stand at attention”
"swirlpool" instead of “whirlpool”

"take it for granite" instead of “take it for granted
"takes two to tangle" instead of “takes two to tango”
"tellingphone" instead of “telephone”
"towing the line" instead of “toeing the line”
"tremblor" instead of “temblor”

"underbrella" instead of “umbrella”
"valevictorian" instead of “valedictorian”

 "vakinis" instead of “bikinis”
"Valentime's Day" instead of “Valentine's Day”
"very close veins" instead of “Varicose veins”

"vim and vinegar" instead of “vim and vigor”
"wet your appetite" instead of “whet your appetite”
"wheelbarrel" instead of “wheelbarrow”
"wild variety" instead of “wide variety”
"wind charms" instead of “wind chimes”

"windshield factor" instead of “windchill factor”
"wonderlust" instead of “wanderlust”
"world wind romance" instead of “whirlwind romance”
"world wind tour" instead of “whirlwind tour”
“worth ethic” instead of “work ethic”