This mangle is surprisingly widespread and comes in at least these two variants, but there may be more. The first example is the more common error:
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| Link: NorthPole.com, Craft Cottage, ‘Poke a Dot Luminaries’ |
The second is less common, but not hard to find:
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| Link: Volcom.com, ‘Poker Dot Gloves’ |
The Oxford English Dictionary shows a pronunciation difference between UK- and US-English:
Spelling errors are thus more likely to be American. The term must, of course, be taught. If the l is not sounded, the correct spelling cannot be deduced from the sound; nor can it be inferred through logic, for, as the Online Etymology Dictionary points out, the connection between polka dots and the polka is arbitrary: the dance was popular and it became fashionable to append the name randomly.
An American company produces a series of ‘Poke-a-Dot’ books, intended to teach counting to young children:
The series title is a great pun; but a pun can be fun and effective only if it is understood as a pun. In practice, this series title is likely to consolidate the misspelling, and it is not impossible that the title is itself based on a misunderstanding of the term.
poke-a-dot; poker dot
An American company produces a series of ‘Poke-a-Dot’ books, intended to teach counting to young children:
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| Link: InnovativeKids, Our Products, ‘Poke-A-Dot’ |
The series title is a great pun; but a pun can be fun and effective only if it is understood as a pun. In practice, this series title is likely to consolidate the misspelling, and it is not impossible that the title is itself based on a misunderstanding of the term.
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