Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/06/22/dictionary-of-eggcorns-words-mispelled-as-other-words.html
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I have to admit, i thought “to the manor born” was the correct version! TIL.
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Was absolutely sure that it was “He got his just desserts” - wrong! And it just amazes me that even-though it’s pronounced “desserts”, it’s actually spelled “deserts”. Some ancient derivation based on “deserves” somehow.
Rob of “Rob Words” points out that such confusion is so much more likely when the misspelled version seems to make as much or more sense. (“Just have to visualize ‘just deserts’ as a sandy sort of justice…?” But then i’d just pronounce it wrong)
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Aren’t eggcorns those things that chestmunks eat? 
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Maybe. Another common one is “tow the line” for “toe the line” because unless you are familiar with naval history, pulling a line seems more plausible than lining up for inspection along one.
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“Stark-naked” apparently replaced the original “start-naked” several hundred years ago.
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Successful indeed!
Maybe because “stark, raving mad” was already well known?
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I had an English paper returned to me in which I used “for all intensive purposes”. I had always heard it that way, and since it made sense, I had no reason to doubt it.
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Apparently that’s a bit later, but “stark-staring mad” (which is still used occasionally) is from about the same time.
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Could of been worse! 
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Should of seen that coming.
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Duct tape and duck tape. Most people I’ve talked to about it don’t know which was actually first.
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I’ve never seen most of these, and I have to say, there’s a lot of great stuff in here. Really (accidentally) poetic, things that should really be their own expressions, e.g.:
(curled up) in the feeble position (aka “Donald Trump’s usual posture”)
(go (at it)) hammer and thongs I’m not sure what the combination of tools and underwear means, but it sounds kind of kinky.
Instead of “a hair’s breadth” we get a hair’s breath, a hare’s breadth, (and presumably a hare’s breath) which all have potentially interesting uses…
cuddlefish for cuttlefish (Adorable!)
dead wringer for “dead ringer” Suddenly it’s about the ghostly washer-women of folklore, not lookalikes. (Or maybe both?)
dough-eyed I resemble that one - I’m always on the lookout for baked goods.
far-gone conclusion For when an argument is really out there.
give up the goat Seems like this would have utility beyond just arguments about the ownership of livestock, in some metaphorical capacity.
half-hazard When it’s, you know, not that dangerous.
like a bowl in a china shop Sort of the opposite of the usual expression - completely at place, in a sedate way.
power mower for “paramour” just made me laugh, but uh, yeah, I can see some weird uses of “power mower” to mean “paramour.”
peak one’s interest When you’re obsessed, but know you’ll soon be over it.
reek havoc When you smell trouble.
scrapegoat and escape goat I don’t know what they’d mean, but they should mean something.
sow one’s wild oaks When you have long-term plans to build a 17th century navy.
spear of influence When your influence penetrates right to the heart of the culture, quickly. (i.e. rapid-rising pop stars)
wreckless driving When you’re a really careful, safe driver.
It strikes me that these really must be exploding now that there’s so much machine-generated text based on speech (e.g. with videos). Normally, people would hear things, misunderstand them, but then be corrected when they saw the words/phrases in print. That’s no longer true.
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There is a brand of duct tape called Duck Tape, but i don’t know if that was the chicken or the egg! 
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There was a successful UK comedy series that played off the pun: To the Manor Born - Wikipedia, which probably cemented it in many UK-dians’ minds, even if it is not correct
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I’m surprised jury-rigged vs. jerry-rigged isn’t on that list (jury-rigged is the correct one…jerry-built is a thing, but has a slightly different meaning and may itself have come from a mishearing of jury-rigged).
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Seen on Amazon .com today… Now they’re selling feral hogs? (Only two left in stock? Darn it, I wanted 30 to 50!)
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For example, the stock expression “in one fell swoop” might be replaced by “in one foul swoop”,
It can also be replaced by “in one swell foop”
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Indeed, the best foop evuh! 
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Though not the most common or famous egghorn, “to the manor born” is surely the most memetically successful in obliterating the phase it derived from.
Re ‘to the manor born’, I was going to say I blame Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, but you beat me to the general point.
In To the Manor Born , Penelope Keith … plays upper-class Audrey fforbes-Hamilton
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