Avoiding spelling mistakes – more eggcorns

Sometimes when we write Thai English in academic research papers and theses, if we understand why we make certain errors, we can avoid making the same mistakes in future.

Thammasat University students of linguistics may have heard of the term eggcorn. This was named by a linguist after the incorrect spelling of the common English word acorn, the single seed, inside a tough shell, of the oak tree or other trees. If we do not read a word frequently and do not have a good memory of how it looks when it is printed, then we must rely on how it sounds. Writers of Thai English often do this when they use technical vocabulary in academic writing that they may have heard an ajarn say in a seminar. So we try to guess the spelling of a word based on how we think it may be pronounced. Naturally, there are many problems with this approach, and it often goes wrong, since the pronunciation of the word may not have been in standard English or American speech. Even if it was in standard English or American speech, spelling of words often cannot be guessed by the way they are pronounced.

However, students and other writers of Thai English for academic purposes should not worry too much, because linguists enjoy eggcorns. They consider them lively and original examples of the way our brains try to make sense of the problem of language. If we have no idea of how the word acorn looks and we hear it pronounced, we may try to include a familiar word that we are sure exists, egg, even though that turns out to be incorrect. In an English class, that spelling would be marked as wrong, but in a linguistics class, an ajarn might appreciate it.

Also, eggcorns are written by native English speakers as well, not just by writers of Thai English. Anyone trying to write a word who is not sure about the spelling can write an eggcorn. Since it happens often, we may avoid feeling embarrassed or ashamed if we make this type of error, and look on it as part of a game of language.

By looking at other examples of eggcorns, we can see how our minds or the minds of other writers work when we spell words. Also we may keep in mind that the best way to be sure about how words are spelled is to read a lot in English, and also to use spell check programs and Google words whenever we are not certain, to get quick answers.

One example of an eggcorn is the wrong spelling underbrella instead of umbrella. As all Thais know, especially during rainy season, people stand under umbrellas for protection. So by adding the word under to the noun umbrella, the eggcorn underbrella is formed. The word umbrella derives from a Latin term meaning shade.

There is another English word, penumbra, meaning a partially shaded area around the edges of a shadow, especially an eclipse. TU students of astronomy will recognize the word penumbra as referring to a region around the edge of a sunspot, darker than the sun’s surface but lighter than the middle of the sunspot.

The term penumbra also refers more generally to an area of uncertainty, or something that lies on the edge or fringe of something else. The word penumbra originates in two Latin words, meaning almost and shadow. So if we remember that the letters umbra in umbrella and penumbra both refer to shade, then we will be less likely to mistakenly spell umbrella as underbrella. Also, we may remember the meaning and spelling of a high-level English word, penumbra, which is sometimes seen in literary contexts.

Making the eggcorn a little more complex is the fact that because the eggcorn underbrella is sometimes seen, it has been adopted as a slang term, according to some web dictionaries of slang:

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Underbrella

A tactic by which a person stays dry during a rainy period by taking advantage of an above average height stranger holding umbrellas by walking underneath them.

A person may commonly use this in densely populated areas, in order to stay dry if they have not planned ahead for poor weather.

John: “Hey Peter, where’s your umbrella? It’s pouring outside and you’re completely dry”

Peter: “Who needs an umbrella? I just underbrella-ed over here”

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Although this is a joking example, the idea is that during a rainstorm, a short person can stay dry by walking along under the umbrellas that taller people hold high in the air, and be protected. Since they are walking under the umbrellas, this activity is named underbrella-ing. This is not standard English usage and should not be used in theses or academic research papers, unless they are on the subject of English language slang and eggcorns.

Following along in the usage of the eggcorn underbrella, a business in the United Kingdom that develops websites for small companies is also named Underbrella.

Despite these and other lively slang usages, it is important not to be confused and to remember standard English usage and write umbrella when we mean umbrella.

Another example of an eggcorn is the mistaken phrase last stitch effort instead of the correct idiom, last-ditch effort.

The expression last-ditch effort means a desperate final attempt. Some usage examples:

• Karen villagers make last-ditch effort to reclaim grabbed land.
• The new property tax is a last-ditch effort by the Finance Ministry before the general election next year.
• Thailand’s Tiger Temple applies for zoo licence in last-ditch effort.

The expression refers to the military meaning of the words last ditch, as in the last line of defense. In military engineering, a ditch is an obstacle designed to slow down or break up an attacking force, while a trench is intended to provide cover to the defenders. The meaning of last-ditch as the the last line of defense supposedly was used by King William III of England,  known as William of Orange (1650-1702), a ruler of the Dutch Republic.

When the French army was invading the Netherlands in 1672, William of Orange was reportedly advised to surrender, but he replied: No, I mean to die in the last ditch.

This meant that he was willing to fight until the end. Fortunately, he survived the battle.

Writers of English, including some native speakers, who have not understood the meaning of the expression last-ditch effort sometimes confuse the sound of ditch with stitch, which is the action done by a needle and thread when sewing. The words last stitch would refer to the final stitch in any needlework project, but is not appropriate when the writer really wishes to cite the expression last-ditch effort. So by imagining the ditches on a battlefield during a conflict, we may remember that the correct expression is in fact last-ditch effort, and that way we can avoid writing an eggcorn.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)