On or By Accident
25th September 2015
In short, Barratt finds that:
- speakers born before about 1970 hardly use on accident at all;
- speakers born between 1970 and 1995 use on accident and by accident (sometimes even an individual speaker will use both);
- speakers born after 1995 use on accident to the near exclusion of by accident.
This is not just speakers in one region; she surveyed speakers in Indiana, Michigan, California, and Georgia, from different socioeconomic classes.