CentralNotice From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search This article is about language usage. For the psychology use, see Hypercorrection (psychology) . This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2012) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message ) In linguistics or usage , hypercorrection is a non-standard usage that results from the over-application of a perceived rule of grammar or a usage prescription . A speaker or writer who produces a hypercorrection generally believes that the form is correct through misunderstanding of these rules, often combined with a desire to appear formal or educated. [1] [2] Linguistic hypercorrection occurs when a real or imagined grammatical rule is ...