This is almost an eggcorn

Charles Doyle cdoyle at UGA.EDU
Mon Oct 29 16:14:39 UTC 2007


Yes, "attic" for "addict" seems like simply a misspelling based on the phonology of certain dialects; "addict" for "attic" is harder to figure.

--Charlie
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---- Original message ----
>Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 11:29:24 -0400
>From: "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
>
>If /t/ and /d/ are flapped (as they almost always are in AmerEng) and the final /kt/ is simplified (as it would be in many varieties), the pronunciation could have been the source of the reanalysis in print, but how could we have been sure of it in speech since they are homophonous? Somebody says /aeDIk/ for "addict" and someone else hears "attic."
>
>dInIs

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