For example, tonight's news broadcast on Public Television identified a man selling fish and chips as a restauranteur.
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1Why was this a mistake? What cognate was this confused with? Please explain.– Peter ShorCommented Aug 17, 2016 at 23:18
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The answer to the question in the title is probably a malapropism, from Sheridan. However, that doesn't fit the example in the text. Fish and chip restaurants are quite common.– Andrew Leach ♦Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 23:18
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grammarist.com/spelling/restaurateur– JimCommented Aug 17, 2016 at 23:34
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1Collins English Dictionary would not agree that the word is misspelled nowadays: restauranteur noun another name for restaurateur.– Edwin AshworthCommented Aug 17, 2016 at 23:57
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Edwin Ashworth has informed me that restauranteur is an acceptable alternative for restaurateur. So I have erred. People who pronounce "erred as "aired" are making the mistake I have in mind by mixing up err with error, as are those who put an extra a in bestial or an extra i in granary. ( I don't have access to Collins English dictionary, but I'm hoping at least one of beastial and grainary is incorrect.– AirymouseCommented Aug 18, 2016 at 2:54
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1 Answer
A specialized example is a mondegreen, "a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near-homophony, in a way that gives it a new meaning".
The term originated when, as a girl, Sylvia Wright was exposed to the poem "The Bonny Earl o' Moray" and heard the lines
They hae slain the Earl o' Moray,
And laid him on the green
as
They hae slain the Earl o' Moray,
And Lady Mondegreen
which she much preferred.
