They sound right. They aren't.

Why the swap holds "Peace" and "piece" are homophones. "Give someone a piece of your mind" (speak sharply) exists, so a "piece of mind" sounds like a stable mental compartment — close to the original meaning.

Why the swap holds "Peace" (calm) reparsed as "piece" (portion). The reparse survives because giving "a piece of one's mind" is also an idiom — two phrases collide.

Why the swap holds The walking stance named for pigeons' inward-turning feet ("toed"). Reparsed as "toad" — an animal associated with squat, awkward posture.

Why the swap holds "Play by ear" comes from playing music without sheet — improvising. "Year" makes no musical sense, but could parse as long-term improvisation.

Why the swap holds "Pot luck" (whatever's in the pot) is 16th-century English. "Pod" came to mean a cluster (as in "pea pod" or, later, "pod of colleagues"), so a "pod luck" sounds like a communal dish — not far off the original sense.

Why the swap holds A "case in point" is a specific case bearing on the present discussion. The eggcorn inverts the words and treats them as a list — losing the prepositional logic.

Why the swap holds "Posthumously" (after death) gets an extra syllable by absorbing "humour" — as if something humorous were being published after the writer's death. Surface sense is almost too apt.

Why the swap holds "Pore" (to study intently) is rare. "Pour" is everyday — and the image of pouring attention over a document isn't absurd.

Why the swap holds "Prima" (Italian for first) is opaque; "pre-" is a productive English prefix. The spelling evokes Madonna the popstar, so the diva association accidentally survives.

Why the swap holds Both forms have coexisted since the 1600s. "Preventative" adds an extra syllable by analogy with "representative" and "quantitative." Many style guides still prefer "preventive" for brevity.

Why the swap holds The insect was named for its "praying" forelegs. "Preying" reparses it as predatory — biologically accurate (mantises hunt), but the original image is religious.

Why the swap holds "Pronounce" has a strong -ounce; "pronunciation" drops it — a historical oddity. Writers over-regularise by adding the second -ounce back in.

Why the swap holds PROSTRATE = lying face down (Latin pro + stratus = stretched forward). PROSTATE = the gland. Doctors and journalists flip them; the gland makes for awkward eulogies.

Why the swap holds "Prostrate" (lying face down) and "prostate" (the gland) are one letter apart. Both sound similar in fast speech; the former is more common as a general word.

Why the swap holds Correct form. Listed because "pull the wool over" is sometimes crossed with "pull the rug" — two "pull"-verbs with different props and different meanings.

Why the swap holds The Will Smith film spelled it "Happyness" deliberately (as a graffiti in-joke). In casual writing the spelling leaks as a true eggcorn.

Why the swap holds The original form. "Wrack" (to wreck) is the common eggcorn variant — both get used, but "rack" (stretch on a rack of torture) is the source.

Why the swap holds "Trouper" (loyal member of a theatrical troupe) is narrow. "Trooper" (soldier) is more familiar and also implies toughness. Both now widely accepted.

Why the swap holds Two syllables ("Real-tor") become three in rapid speech. The three-syllable pronunciation is so common that it shows up in writing — even on business cards.

Why the swap holds "Sow" (plant) and "sew" (stitch) are homophones. "You reap what you sew" suggests consequences follow your handiwork — which still fits the spirit of the biblical proverb (Galatians 6:7).

Why the swap holds "Rabble" (a disorderly crowd) is archaic. A "rebel-rouser" sounds like someone who stirs up rebellion — which is, in fact, what a rabble-rouser does. The eggcorn is almost a translation.

Why the swap holds WREAK = to inflict (an old verb that survives almost only here). REEK = to stink. Wreaking havoc smells bad, but reeking havoc is a different image.

Why the swap holds "Rein" is the horse-riding term — pull back on the reins. "Reign" reparses it as kingly authority, which fits "control" semantically, but the source is equestrian.

Why the swap holds Correct form. Paired with "rein of terror" eggcorn variants — "rein" reparses the idea of controlled fear, even though "reign" (rule) is the source.

Why the swap holds "Rein" (bridle strap, from riding) is the image — pulling back. "Reign" (rule) relates conceptually to control but uses a completely different metaphor.

Why the swap holds "Rite" (ritual, from Latin ritus) is narrow; "right" (entitlement) is everyday. A rite of passage is a ritual marking a transition, not a legal right to pass through.

Why the swap holds RITE = a ceremonial transition. "Right" sounds identical and seems to make sense (a privilege you earn) — but the original is anthropological, not legal.

Why the swap holds "Wrought" (past participle of work — shaped by hammering) is archaic. A fence made of iron rods is a reasonable visual stand-in, and the sound is similar enough.

Why the swap holds "Wrought" (past participle of "work") reparsed as "rod" — a sensible visual (fences are made of rods) but wrong etymology. Wrought iron is the material, not rods.

Why the swap holds A "rogue wave" is an unpredictable giant wave (rogue = unruly individual). "Rouge" (red, French) is unrelated — purely a typo / spell-check accident.

Why the swap holds "Roost" is the perch where fowl sleep. "Roast" reparses it as presiding over the dinner table — a sensible image, and actually the older form in some sources.

Why the swap holds "Run of the mill" (unsorted mill output, mediocre) reparsed as "run of the mine" — unsorted mine output, which is also a real phrase but not this idiom.

Why the swap holds "Rampant" (unchecked, from heraldry — a lion rampant) and "rapid" (fast) blend phonetically. "Rampid" captures the feel of unstoppable speed.

Why the swap holds "Rampant" (unchecked, from heraldry) reparsed as "rampid" — probably crossed with "rapid." The wrong word lands because it sounds similar and also implies speed.

Why the swap holds "Gamut" (full range, from the medieval music scale) is rare; "gambit" (opening move) is familiar from chess. The eggcorn sounds more dramatic than the original.

Why the swap holds "Gauntlet" (a military punishment — running between two lines) and "gamut" (full range) are both used figuratively. Speakers swap them routinely in both directions.

Why the swap holds "Safe-deposit" is the compound — a deposit in a safe. "Safety" sounds more natural and emphasises protection, and now appears on bank signage just as often.

Why the swap holds "Scot" was an Old Norse tax (skot). "Scot-free" meant exempt from tax. "Scotch" (the drink, or to mark something) is far more familiar — so "Scotch-free" parses as "without Scotch," which at least has the ring of cheap escape.

Why the swap holds "Cease" and "seize" are homophones in many dialects. A "seize and desist" reads as "grab it, then stop" — which sounds, if anything, more forceful than the original legal phrase.

Why the swap holds In rapid speech "self-esteem" flattens to three syllables that readers re-parse as "self" + "of" + "steam" — a plausible image of internal pressure. One of the most-cited modern eggcorns.

Why the swap holds Children hearing "cell phone" often parse it as "self phone" — a phone that's yours, personal. The eggcorn is short-lived; most correct it young.

Why the swap holds "Deprecate" (to disapprove of) vs "depreciate" (to reduce in value). Since self-deprecation reduces the speaker's worth, "depreciate" feels apt.

Why the swap holds The original; paired with "step foot in" above. "Set" is the fixed archaic verb in the phrase; "step" is the colloquial reparse.

Why the swap holds From Arabic sharbah (drink). The pronunciation "sher-bert" with intrusive r is so common that Merriam-Webster lists it as a variant spelling.

Why the swap holds "Shoo-in" is racing slang — a horse shooed across the finish line. "Shoe-in" imagines getting one's foot in the door, which also evokes easy entry.

Why the swap holds The contraction "should've" sounds identical to "should of" in casual speech. Writers who learned the phrase by ear spell what they hear.

Why the swap holds "Shudder" is a shiver of revulsion. "Shutter" reparses it as closing your eyes or shutters at the thought — similar instinct, wrong verb.

Why the swap holds Cross-contamination with "music to my ears." The sense organs switch — sight is for eyes — but the template "X for sore Y" survives.

Why the swap holds Correct form. Listed because "silver plated" and "silver platter" get crossed in speech — one is the object, the other is the finish.

Why the swap holds The correct form; listed here to pair with "slight of hand" above. "Sleight" (rare word, means dexterity) is otherwise nearly extinct outside this phrase.