Questions arising from error (real or perceived): solecism, malapropism, mondegreens, eggcorns, disputed usages, so-called "corruption", folk etymologies, but also requests for interpretation when the text in question arguably contains an error, and questions which stem from a misunderstanding. Do ...
8
votes
3answers
1k views
“Key thob” and “key fob”
I've been receiving emails at work inquiring about registering our key fobs. This is slightly disturbing to me as I've always called it a key thob. An internet search for thob tells me I really mean ...
4
votes
2answers
178 views
What is the name of combination, in error, of similar or related words? (E.g.: segueway)
Is there a technical term for combination, in error, of similar or related words? This question is prompted by the following malapropism or solecism, from an article by Elizabeth Montalbano in ...
2
votes
2answers
301 views
Does ‘long-molared’ have any special meaning?
“You’re joking, Weasley!” said Malfoy, behind them. “You’re not telling me someone’s asked that to the ball? Not the long-molared Mudblood?” (Harry Potter 4 [US Version]: p.404)[Bold font is mine]
...
51
votes
3answers
4k views
What is the error called when two letters are mistakenly swapped?
Generally this may be called typo but when particularly two letters of a word are mistakenly swapped, what is this error called? Some examples:
teh > the
fromat > format
comptuer > computer
3
votes
5answers
3k views
Is incorrect capitalization considered a spelling error?
Is incorrect capitalization, such as the lowercase "i" in
can [this is not the sic you're after] i [this sic] have an if statement within a
dialog box code?
considered a spelling mistake, or ...
3
votes
2answers
240 views
Isn’t a word missing?
I’m quoting a part of the article titled “Pakistan Sees Shared Intelligence Lapse” written by Alan Cowell in today’s (May 4) New York Time’s Asia Pacific section (online edition) simply by ...
2
votes
1answer
412 views
What does “It dopes it really really well. Dope even” mean? [closed]
Recently I came across a stackoverflow comment for a post. It goes something like this.
Dojo has an UpgradeBar that dopes
this:
Blah Blah Blah
and then somebody commented the post
It ...
3
votes
5answers
5k views
Mixing up “quiet” and “quite”: spelling or grammar error?
Look at this sentence:
It wasn't quiet what I wanted
And this one:
The music was too quite for me
Obviously quiet and quite are mixed up. Is this considered a spelling mistake? In both ...
15
votes
6answers
13k views
Is “substract” (versus “subtract”) a proper word?
I read an article recently where the author used "substract" instead of "subtract". I'm more familiar with the latter word but after doing a bit of googling, it seems that both words are being used, ...
