Hypercorrection
NON-STANDARD LANGUAGE USAGE THAT RESULTS FROM THE OVER-APPLICATION OF A PERCEIVED PRESCRIPTIVE RULE
Hypercorrect; Hypercorrections; Hypercorrectness; Hyper-correction; Overcorrection; Over-correction; Hypercorrecting; Hypercorrective; Overcompensation (linguistics); Overcorrect
In sociolinguistics, hypercorrection is non-standard use of language that results from the over-application of a perceived rule of language-usage prescription. A speaker or writer who produces a hypercorrection generally believes through a misunderstanding of such rules that the form is more "correct", standard, or otherwise preferable, often combined with a desire to appear formal or educated.