Overview

This time I have three main subjects to discuss, all of them dealing with misunderstandings of words:

• Mistakes made with homophones, one group of examples
  • The definition gets a little technical, see the Wikipedia description.
• Misunderstandings of words from other languages
  • Pundit
• Looking at Eggcorns (a name chosen from a misspelling of acorn)
  • Wikipedia: an alteration of a phrase through the mishearing or reinterpretation of one or more of its elements

Long notes

Follow this link to read the detailed notes associated with this episode.

Links

• Misunderstanding homophones:
  • Wikipedia article on homophones
  • Confusing reign and rein
  • Definitions of reign:
    • Free Dictionary: reign
    • Merriam-Webster: reign
  • Definitions of rein:
    • Free Dictionary: rein
    • Merriam-Webster: rein

• Misunderstanding imported words:
  • Bee Dictionary: pundint or pundit
  • Definitions of pundit:
    • Free Dictionary: pundit
    • Merriam-Webster: pundit
  • Wikipedia article: Jawaharlal Nehru, aka Pandit Nehru

• Eggcorns:
  • Wikipedia article on Eggcorns
  • The Eggcorn Database
  • The Eggcorn Forum
  • Wikipedia article on Alzheimer’s disease
  • Cruel, Clever Cat, by Geoffrey Taylor a joke on the Eggcorn baited breath

• Previous episodes in this series:
  • Battling with English - part 1
  • Battling with English - part 2
  • Battling with English - part 3
  • Battling with English - part 4