Eggcorns (Wikipedia / YouTube video by RobWords) are language mistakes that sometimes take over and change the spelling and perhaps even the meaning of a word. This is rare in German because there’s fewer homophones but in this episode of Wort der Woche, DW explains how “munttot” became “mundtot”. Available as audio or transcript.

  • ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.orgOPEnglish
    3·
    2 months ago

    Depends on

    • how widespread they become (“bone apple tea” is not seriously used by many but can still count)
    • if they still retain some original meaning, unlike mondegreens

    For example, almost everyone calls polo shirts “polokošile” (half-shirts) in Czech when the correct term is “pólo košile”. But since it’s a less formal shirt, people don’t see “half-shirt” as incorrect.