'Intensive purposes': An Eggcorn
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CANCEL
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Featuring:
Emily Brewster
Is the phrase 'for all intensive purposes' or 'for all intents and purposes'? Senior Editor Emily Brewster explains.
Transcript
Sometimes a word that sounds like the right word, and feels like the right word, isn't actually the right word. It's an eggcorn.
If something has the same effect or result as another thing, it's not "for all intensive purposes" the same as that other thing, it's for all intents and purposes the same. It shares the same aim as the other thing, so it has the same effect or result.
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