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Here Are 100 'Eggcorns' That We Say Pass Mustard

Is it "iced tea" or "ice tea"?
Brent Hofacker
/
iStockphoto
Is it "iced tea" or "ice tea"?

If you think the English language is going to hell in a handbag, you won't be happy as a clown after you're done reading this post.

On Saturday, we asked folks to send us examples of the "eggcorns" they love or hate. An eggcorn, as we reported and as Merriam-Webster puts it, is "a word or phrase that sounds like and is mistakenly used in a seemingly logical or plausible way for another word or phrase."

Here's a common one: saying "all intensive purposes" when you mean "all intents and purposes."

Having read several thousand suggestions sent in via email, Twitter, Facebook and The Two-Way's comment section, we've put together a list of the 100 that were either mentioned often or just made us smile.

The list is posted here, and we will embed it below. To all those who got in touch: Thank you! If you want to check out the other "Word Matters" discussions we've had on Weekend Edition Saturday, click here.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.