I first heard the phrase "on accident" when my son used it. He was about 5, and this was about 15 years ago. I thought it was kind of cute, maybe a childish misunderstanding based on its opposite, "on purpose." Being a mom who loved his innocent "childisms," I didn't correct him at the time.
Then, a couple of days later, I heard the phrase again, this time from a little friend of his. Curiouser and curiouser ...
Since then, I've noticed a LOT of people using "on accident" instead of what I grew up hearing and saying, "by accident." How did this happen? It's been a question at the back of my mind all these years, and I finally decided to look into it. What I found was absolutely fascinating (at least to me): http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/on-accident-versus-by-accident.aspx
Here's the original study: http://www.inst.at/trans/16Nr/01_4/barratt16.htm
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