Comments by "EebstertheGreat" (@EebstertheGreat) on "Are you getting these phrases wrong too? | EGGCORNS" video.

  1.  @macronencer  I haven't really noticed that, but I might be so immersed in American dialects that I have just heard "forest" as two syllables even when it is said as one syllable. I can certainly imagine it being said like "forced," which I agree is one syllable. There also might be a continuum between the two- and one-syllable pronunciations, which pokes a hole in the idea that syllables are primary. Really, all American rhotacized Rs are subject to that complication. To me, syllabification is very confused in words like "fire" and "hire." For instance, I consider "hire" to be one syllable (like most people, I think), but I pronounce it in precisely the same way as "higher." So either they should both be two syllables, or they should both be one, or perhaps both are one and a half. But I pronounce them exactly the same, so surely they can't have a different number of syllables. On the other hand, I clearly say "cure" as a single syllable word, not at all like the word "fewer." But some people do pronounce those alike (except for the leading consonant), so in those dialects, "cure" is really two syllables. Right? Or is it one syllable, and I say "higher" with one syllable? It's not totally clear. Also, yes, "solder" is an extreme outlier of a word. The American pronunciation is highly irregular, like the pronunciation of "colonel" or "Wednesday." The British pronunciation is fully regular. I'm not sure how that happened. Something equally weird happened to "lieutenant," but then the Americans and Brits went in different weird directions, and then the Brits took a 180 and came back to the weird American way. Some words are just like that.
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  2. To many (but not all) North American English-speakers, the names "Craig" and "Cregg" are pronounced exactly the same. That doesn't necessarily apply to any other words with that sound. For instance, I say "the Hague" with the sound you use in "Craig," but I just don't say "Craig" that way, specifically. It's a single word with a different pronunciation. It is also true that the sounds in "beg," "bagel," and even "bag" can all be merged to varying degrees in some dialects, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, but most speakers who pronounce "Craig" like "egg" don't have that merger.
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  3.  @jonathancoad8372  2 left thumbs is correct. The original phrase is "home in," as in a pigeon or something else finding its way home. "Hone in" is an eggcorn, because the word "hone" has a sort of related meaning and a similar sound. But if you think about it, the meaning isn't quite right. We don't say "sharpen in on" or "whet in on," so it would be weird to say "hone in on." That said, "hone in" is very common now and perhaps on its way to becoming an accepted variant with a folk etymology.
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  4.  @macronencer  I hear a lot of "ornge" and "skwirl," but how do you say "forest" with one syllable?
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  5.  @macronencer  Ah, but if "theater" is two syllables, how can you rhyme "Interior crocodile alligator" with "I drive a Chevrolet movie theater"?
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