Searching for Eggcorns

Today's Word.A.Day email explained what "Eggcorn" is.  (You do get Word.A.Day, right?  It's a great resource, if you haven't heard me say so here or here or here). 

MEANING:

noun: An erroneous alteration of a word or phrase, by replacing an original word with a similar sounding word, such that the new word or phrase also makes a kind of sense.
For example: "ex-patriot" instead of "expatriate" and "mating name" instead of "maiden name".

ETYMOLOGY:

Coined by linguist Geoffrey Pullum (b. 1945) in 2003. From the substitution of the word acorn with eggcorn. Earliest documented use as a name for this phenomenon is from 2003, though the term eggcorn has been found going back as far as 1844, as "egg corn bread" for "acorn bread".

USAGE:

"Will eggcorns continue to hatch? This is a moot point (or is that mute?). Yet certainly anyone waiting with 'baited' (bated) breath for 'whole scale' (wholesale) changes may need to wait a while."
Bill & Rich Sones; If Elevator Falls, Don't Jump to Conclusions; Salt Lake Telegram (Utah); Jul 3, 2008.

 

I even found a list of Eggcorns here. Looking it over, I can identify several I have seen in some manuscripts:

• Cadillac converter see catalytic » Cadillac
• clique » click 
• cue » queue
• deep-seeded see seat » seed
• do diligence see due » do
• flout » flaunt
• overdue » overdo 
• sort after see sought » sort
• take another tact see tack » tact
•  

So, what can you do to be aware of eggcorns in your manuscript?  Take a look at the list, familiarize yourself with some of the common ones.  Or, hire me!