sneak peak

[James Harbeck]

>  >----
>>Sneak Peak of New Mets Stadium
>>If you're a Mets fan, or someone who just loves ballparks, you should
>>get excited for the new Citi Field. Take a behind the scenes peak at
>>construction progress.
>  >----
>>
>
>Could it be influence from the "sneak"?  Would the "sneak peak"ers be
>equally likely to refer to someone "peaking" around the corner or
>"taking a peak" at something/someone?  Basically, I'm talking
>orthographic assimilation here.

Seems reasonable enough, but notice that the influence carries over
to "a behind the scenes peak" in the second sentence. So it's not
purely local.

Perhaps they just don't remember solidly how to spell it, and under
the influence of "sneak" they go with "peak" there and for the rest
of the article, but in other contexts they might remember "peek". It
seems a lot of people don't feel very sure of their spelling!

James Harbeck.

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