Eggcorn vs Null - What's the difference?
eggcorn | null |
(linguistics) An idiosyncratic but semantically motivated substitution of a word or phrase for a word or words that sound identical, or nearly so, at least in the dialect the speaker uses.
*2005 , Ben Zimmer, "Eggcorn Database", at alt.usage.english , 2005
*:The Language Loggers have argued that it's useful to distinguish eggcorns' from classic malapropisms (e.g., "allegory" for "alligator", "oracular" for "vernacular", "fortuitous" for "fortunate"), in which a word is replaced by one with a vague similarity of sound. An ' eggcorn relies on a substitution that is phonologically very similar (even homophonous), and the result is one that is semantically justifiable (even if the justification is far-fetched).
*2005 , Chris Waigl, "The Eggcornin' Bob Dylan", at alt.usage.english, November 5, 2005
*:What is also required of eggcorns is phonetic closeness -- they should do better than "electrocution" for "elocution" or "allegory" for "alligator". This is something they have in common with mondegreens, but the similarity ends there. Mondegreens are errors of perception, not of production, and they are related to specific auditory material:
*2006 , "Lend me your ear.(WORD WATCH; amusing speech errors known as eggcorns)", in Psychology Today , Mar 1, 2006
*:Far from being simple goofs, an eggcorn' provides a glimpse into everyday thought processes. ' Eggcorns do not signify ignorance but rather the opposite,
*2006 , K Webb, "Lost? Misquoted? We want better communication!", in Incite , Volume 27 Issue 10 (Oct 2006)
*:... An eggcorn is a term that is misunderstood and mangled, like ‘give up the goat’ or ‘hone in on’.
*2006 , "Feedback", New Scientist , 18 November 2006
*:OUR report of a relative who, as a child, thought the classic version of the Lord's Prayer began "Our father, a chart in heaven, Harold be thy name" stated that this type of mistake is known as an eggcorn'. A number of readers have suggested that instances like this in which a whole phrase rather than just a word is misheard, should be called mondegreens rather than ' eggcorns .
*2007 , Michael Erard, Um...: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean , page 211
*:But most eggcorns remain individual idiosyncrasies ...
*:But something like "pus jewel" (for "pustule") — which is an eggcorn
*2007', Martin Toseland, ''The Ants Are My Friends: Misheard Lyrics, Malapropisms, '''Eggcorns and Other Linguistic Gaffes
*2007', "WORDPLAY: Mighty mistakes from little '''eggcorns grow...", in ''Pharmacy News Jul 19, 2007
*:Characteristic of the eggcorn is that the new phrase makes sense on some level ('old-timer's disease' for 'Alzheimer's disease').
A non-existent or empty value or set of values.
Zero]] quantity of [[expression, expressions; nothing.
Something that has no force or meaning.
(computing) the ASCII or Unicode character (), represented by a zero value, that indicates no character and is sometimes used as a string terminator.
(computing) the attribute of an entity that has no valid value.
One of the beads in nulled work.
(statistics) null hypothesis
Having no validity, "null and void"
insignificant
* 1924 , Marcel Proust, Within a Budding Grove :
absent or non-existent
(mathematics) of the null set
(mathematics) of or comprising a value of precisely zero
(genetics, of a mutation) causing a complete loss of gene function, amorphic.
As nouns the difference between eggcorn and null
is that eggcorn is (linguistics) an idiosyncratic but semantically motivated substitution of a word or phrase for a word or words that sound identical, or nearly so, at least in the dialect the speaker uses while null is zero, nil; the cardinal number before einn.eggcorn
English
(wikipedia eggcorn)Noun
{{examples-right, examples=*deep-seeded'' instead of ''deep-seated *deformation of character'' instead of ''defamation of character *for all intensive purposes'' instead of ''for all intents and purposes *free reign'' instead of ''free rein *oldtimer's disease'' instead of ''Alzheimer's disease *on tender hooks'' instead of ''on tenterhooks }} (en noun)See also
* folk etymology * malapropism * mondegreenReferences
Eggcorn database*
Michael Quinion on the eggcorn on CentrificalDiscussion of an eggcorn and the definition *
Metaforix@A discussion of the phenomenon and some examples. English autological terms
null
English
Noun
(en noun)- (Francis Bacon)
- Since no date of birth was entered for the patient, his age is null .
Adjective
(en adjective)- In proportion as we descend the social scale our snobbishness fastens on to mere nothings which are perhaps no more null than the distinctions observed by the aristocracy, but, being more obscure, more peculiar to the individual, take us more by surprise.