bartleby.com/116
Malaprops

H.W. Fowler (1858-1933). The King’s English, 2nd ed. 1908.

Chapter I. Vocabulary

MALAPROPS

BEFORE classifying, we define a "malaprop" as a word used in the belief that it has the meaning really belonging to another word that resembles it in some particular.

• 1. Words containing the same stem, but necessarily, or at least indisputably, distinguished by termination or prefix.
• 2. Words like the previous set, except that the differentiation may possibly be disputed.
• 3. Give-and-take forms, in which there are two words, with different constructions, that might properly be used, and one is given the construction of the other.
• 4. Words having properly no connexion with each other at all, but confused owing to superficial resemblance.
• 5. Words whose meaning is misapprehended without apparent cause. The hankering of ignorant writers after the unfamiliar or imposing leads to much of this. We start with two uses of which correct and incorrect examples are desirable: provided, where if is required; and to eke out in wrong senses. Provided adorns every other page of George Borrow; we should have left it alone as an eccentricity of his, if we had not lately found the wrong use more than once in The Times.
• 6. Words used in unaccustomed, though not impossible, senses or applications. This is due sometimes to that avoidance of the obvious which spoils much modern writing, and sometimes to an ignorance of English idiom excusable in a foreigner, but not in a native.
• 7. Simple love of the long word.

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We have touched shortly upon some four dozen of what we call "malaprops". Now possible "malaprops", in our extended sense, are to be reckoned not by the dozen, but by the million. Moreover, out of our four dozen, not more than some half a dozen are uses that it is worth any one's while to register individually in his mind for avoidance. The conclusion of which is this: we have made no attempt at cataloguing the mistakes of this sort that must not be committed; every one must construct his own catalogue by care, observation, and the resolve to use no word whose meaning he is not sure of — even though that resolve bring on him the extreme humiliation of now and then opening the dictionary. Our aim has been, not to make a list, but to inculcate a frame of mind.

catachresis (W3)

"catachresis", Noun, pl. "catachreses"

• 1. The misapplication of a word or phrase, as the use of "blatant" to mean "flagrant".
• 2. The use of a strained figure of speech, such as a mixed metaphor.

ETYMOLOGY: Latin "catachrsis", improper use of a word, from Greek "katakhrsis", "excessive use", from "katakhrsthai", to "misuse" : "kata-", "completely"; see "cata-" + "khrsthai", "to use"; see "*gher-2" in Appendix I.

OTHER FORMS: "catachrestic", "catachrestical" (ADJECTIVE), "catachrestically" (ADVERB)

ENTRY: "*gher-(2)"

DEFINITION: To "like", "want". Oldest form "*gher-", becoming "*gher-" in centum languages.

1. Suffixed form "*gher-n-": engl. "yearn", from Old English "giernan", "gyrnan" = engl. to "strive", "desire", "yearn", from Germanic "*gernjan".

2. Possibly extended form "*ghre-":

a. engl. "greedy", from Old English "grædig" = engl. "hungry", "covetous", "greedy", from Germanic "*grediga-" = engl. "hungry", formed from "*greduz" = engl. "hunger".

b. engl. "catachresis", "chresard", "chrestomathy", from Greek "khresthai" = engl. to "lack", "want", "use", from "khre" = engl. "it is necessary".

3. Suffixed zero-grade form "*ghr-to-": engl. "hortative", "exhort", from Latin "hortari" = engl. "to urge on", "encourage" ("to cause to strive or desire").

4. Suffixed zero-grade form "*ghr-i-": engl. "charisma", "Eucharist", from Greek "kharis" = engl. "grace", "favor".

5. Suffixed zero-grade form "*ghr-yo-": engl. "chervil", from Greek "khairein" = engl. "to rejoice", "delight in". (Pokorny 1. "gher-" 440.)

CATACHRESIS (n.), CATACHRESTIC, CATACHRESTICAL (adjs.)

This noun (pronounced KAT-uh-KREE-sis) and its adjectives (pronounced KAT-uh-KRES-tik-[uhl]) describe either the misuse of a word or a mistaken form of a word, as in a mixed metaphor such as "He kept a tight rein on his boiling temper", a paradox such as "a tall dwarf", or an explanation of a word that leads to a folk etymology, such as "sparrow grass" for "asparagus". These examples are catachrestic(al), and each such locution is itself a "catachresis". See also FOREIGN PLURALS.

"catachresis", Gk. "misuse", lat. "abusio", engl. "figure of abuse", "abusion"

The use of a word in a context that differs from its proper application.

This figure is generally considered a vice; however, Quintilian defends its use as a way by which one adapts existing terms to applications where a proper term does not exist.

Examples
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Related Figures

• metaphor
• acyron
• metalepsis

Related Topics of Invention

• Comparison

See Also

• Figures of Speech: Vices

"catachresis"

Misuse or strained use of words, as in a mixed metaphor, occurring either in error or for rhetorical effect.

Origin of catachresis: Latin, 1580-1590, "Catachresis" is derived from the Greek root "chrêsis" which meant "to use". The prefix "cata-" means "down", "back", "against". The word "katachrêsthai" meant "to misuse" in Greek.

Wednesday, 24 April 2013

Catachretic Love

There's a rhetorical term called "catachresis", which is rather hard to define. That is to say that like most rhetorical terms it has several different definitions that have amassed over a couple of millennia. Some authorities just say that is the "misuse of a word" - a "malapropism". But others have the more interesting definition that it is "a word wrenched out of its normal usage in a surprising, impossible metaphor".

The classic example of this is Hamlet's "I will look daggers at her". This was, of course, the origin of the phrase. Look daggers is the catachresis because... well how can you look daggers. Look isn't even a transistive verb - you look at the cat, you don't look the cat. So shouldn't it really be an adverb like look angrily? Of course it works. It works very well. Indeed it works because it's so damned surprising.

Another Shakespearean example is "Tis deepest winter in Lord Timon's pockets". That means Timon's broke. But it's a metaphor that sort of doesn't work, and therefore works really well. It's a use of language that's so wrong it's right.

Anyway, yesterday, in an e-mail conversation with The Antipodean, I was making a joke about song titles that contained the word love, when I realised how many of them were "catachretic". For example, there's Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me to the End of Love". That's a perfect "catchresis". You would expect the sentence to end with a noun of space or time - "Dance Me to the End of the Night" or "Dance Me to the End of the Street" - and instead you get love, which isn't a place, unless you believe the Doors line "She lives on Love Street", which is another "love-catachresis".

Robert Palmer has a catachretic amour: Doctor, Doctor, give me the news. I've got a bad case of loving you; but I don't think Addicted To Love is a catachresis, that's just a metaphor.

"Love Minus Zero" by Dylan is a definitely a "catachresis". "Dr Love" by Bobby Sheen probably counts. "Love Me Tender" is a catachresis, because it should be "Love Me Tenderly". And I'm pretty sure "Crazy In Love" is a catachresis. But...

Well, you can probably see that "catachresis" is a question of judgement. Rhetoricians will argue forever about how it exactly it differs from enallage (the substitution of one part of speech for another, so "Love Me Tender" counts). But if you can think of another catachretic love, please put it in the comments.

P.S. Before someone points it out, I know "Bad Case of Loving You" is by Moon Martin.

Posted by M.H. Forsyth at 11:01 10 comments:
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"catachresis", n. - incorrect use of a word or phrase, especially from any etymological misunderstanding

"catachresis", n. - use of wrong words. catachrestic, adj.

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The first recorded use of "catachresis" dates to 1553, and it has been used to describe (or decry) misuses of a word ever since. "Catachresis" comes to us by way of Latin from the Greek word "katachresis", which means "misuse".
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"catachresis"

Definition: Using the wrong word, e.g. saying disinterested (i.e. impartial) when you want to say uninterested (i.e. not interested).

Notes: 1. As a language-change process, catachresis can also be viewed as a powerful source of creativity.

Etymology: The word derives from the Greek katakhresthai, misuse of a word.

Oxford English Dictionary - Its first citation is from 1589: "Catachresis or the Figure of abuse." (Puttenham Eng. Poesie (Arb.) 190 marg.,)

similar: solecism | barbarism | vulgarism | confusage | confusables | acyrology

We found 32 dictionaries with English definitions that include the word catachresis:

General dictionaries General (25 matching dictionaries)

• 1.catachresis: Oxford Dictionaries [home, info]
• 2.catachresis: American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language [home, info]
• 3.catachresis: Collins English Dictionary [home, info]
• 4.catachresis: Vocabulary.com [home, info]
• 5.catachresis: Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, 11th Edition [home, info]
• 6.catachresis: Wiktionary [home, info]
• 7.catachresis: Webster's New World College Dictionary, 4th Ed. [home, info]
• 8.catachresis: The Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus [home, info]
• 9.catachresis: Infoplease Dictionary [home, info]
• 10.Catachresis, catachresis: Dictionary.com [home, info]
• 11.catachresis: UltraLingua English Dictionary [home, info]
• 12.Catachresis: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia [home, info]
• 13.Catachresis: Online Plain Text English Dictionary [home, info]
• 14.catachresis: Webster's Revised Unabridged, 1913 Edition [home, info]
• 15.catachresis: Rhymezone [home, info]
• 16.Catachresis: AllWords.com Multi-Lingual Dictionary [home, info]
• 17.catachresis: Webster's 1828 Dictionary [home, info]
• 18.catachresis: Free Dictionary [home, info]
• 19.catachresis: The Phrontistery - A Dictionary of Obscure Words [home, info]
• 20.catachresis: Luciferous Logolepsy [home, info]
• 21.catachresis: Mnemonic Dictionary [home, info]
• 22.catachresis: WordNet 1.7 Vocabulary Helper [home, info]
• 23.catachresis: LookWAYup Translating Dictionary/Thesaurus [home, info]
• 24.catachresis: Dictionary/thesaurus [home, info]
• 25.catachresis: Worthless Word For The Day [home, info]

Art dictionaries Art (4 matching dictionaries)

• 26.catachresis: Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric [home, info]
• 27.Catachresis: Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples [home, info]
• 28.Catachresis: A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices [home, info]
• 29.CATACHRESIS: Bobs Byway OF POETIC TERMS [home, info]

Business dictionaries Business (1 matching dictionary)

• 30.catachresis: Legal dictionary [home, info]

Miscellaneous dictionaries Miscellaneous (2 matching dictionaries)

• 31.catachresis: A Word A Day [home, info]
• 32.catachresis: Wordcraft Dictionary [home, info]

"catachresis": strained or paradoxical use of words either in error (as "blatant" to mean "flagrant") or deliberately (as in a mixed metaphor: "blind mouths").

Showing words related to catachresis, ranked by relevance.

• 1. metaphor
• 2. use
• 3. example
• 4. historical
• 5. see
• 6. abstracts
• 7. Sheridan
• 8. abolitionism
• 9. antitheses
• 10. arraignment
• 11. compulsions
• 12. contrasts
• 13. determinism
• 14. foreshortening
• 15. horizons
• 16. iconoclasm
• 17. imagination
• 18. irruption
• 19. juxtaposition
• 20. juxtapositions
• 21. metaphors
• 22. mimesis
• 23. paradoxes
• 24. subheadings
• 25. sublime
• 26. vanguards

Name of a misusage - What do you call the catachresis(? or misusage) when one uses an unreasonably extreme form of an attribute or adjective in a sentence where a more moderate one would be correct? (e.g.there are two ...

Term for the blatant use of the wrong word? - In my line of work I am confronted with people who blatantly or ignorantly misspeak. Ex: Customer - "Hi. Can I get a bagel" Me - "I'm sorry, we only sell pretzels here sir." Customer - "Yeah, ...

“Season's greetings” or “Seasoned greetings” [closed] - Today I heard the phrase "Seasoned greetings." Is this just some clever word play on the traditional "Season's greetings," meant to mean greetings spiced up with seasoning, or is it a legitimate ...

Is there a word to describe someone who often inaccurately uses words? - Or a word to describe the act of inaccurately using complicated or unusual words (often in an attempt to sound more intelligent)? I considered 'bombastic' but it doesn't have that quality of ...

What's up with the word “egregious”? - According to Google's dictionary (and MacOS/iOS dictionary), egregious has the following definitions: I've seen words with multiple definitions, but not ones that are exact contradictions. Some ...

A word for when a word is used incorrectly (grammatically) but can still be parsed in a grammatically correct way? - Does such a word exist? An example: Do good. Supposing that my intention in saying "Do good!" was actually "Do well (on your test)!", the sentence still parses correctly as "Do good (deeds)!" I ...

"Catachresis": a harsh metaphor involving the use of a word beyond its strict sphere.

*I listen vainly, but with thirsty ear. MacArthur, Farewell Address

*Cynthia prima suis miserum me cepit ocellis. Propertius I.1.1

• "catachresis": strained or paradoxical use of words either in error (as "blatant" to mean "flagrant") or deliberately (as in a mixed metaphor: "blind mouths")
• "catachrestic": constituting or characterized by or given to catachresis
• "catachrestical": constituting or characterized by or given to catachresis

"Catachresis" (Greek, "misuse"): An eccentric metaphor.

catachresis

2008-07: Words about words and language: grammatolatry | catachresis | parapraxis | lingua franca | orthoepy | AWADmail 317

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ETYMOLOGY: Here's a catchall word for all those mixed metaphors, malapropisms, and bushisms. It derives via Latin from Greek katakhresthai (to misuse).
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catachresis | catachrestic

• catachreses
• catachresis
• catachrestic
• catachrestical
• catachrestically

Farberisms (W3)

David J. Farber

Last updated October 23, 1997

• We need to rein in our horns.
• A problem swept under the table occasionally comes home to roost.
• From here on up, it's down hill all the way.
• Don't look a charlie horse in the mouth.
• He's cornered on all sides.
• I don't trust him farther than you can bat an eye.
• Don't talk to me with your clothes on.
• Put yourself in his boat.
• If that happened to me, I'd clean my ears out with a pistol.
• It's a white elephant around my neck.
• What can we do to shore up these problems?
• I have a green thumb up to my elbow.
• ...

a long list

...
Other relevant examples can be found in the list of "Farberisms" on the Icon site, many of which are idiom blends ("he flipped his cork", "that's a different cup of fish"), while others are just "malaprops" ("this report reads like a bleached whale", "he's as ugly as godzilla the hun"), or other sorts of modifications of "fixed expressions" ("let's solve two problems with one bird").

malaprop (W3)

malaprop

• Eggcorn? Malaprop? Doug Harris

• Church bulletin malaprops James A. Landau
• Church bulletin malaprops Bill Palmer

• Eggcorns? Malaprops? JAMES A. LANDAU Netscape. Just the Net You Need.
• Eggcorns? Malaprops? Benjamin Zimmer

• Yogi Berra's malaprops JAMES A. LANDAU Netscape. Just the Net You Need.

• some kind of malaprop Arnold M. Zwicky
• some kind of malaprop Baker, John
• some kind of malaprop Benjamin Zimmer
• some kind of malaprop Arnold M. Zwicky

• play malaprops Arnold M. Zwicky
• play malaprops Benjamin Zimmer
• play malaprops Jesse Sheidlower
• play malaprops Laurence Urdang
• play malaprops Benjamin Zimmer
• play malaprops Arnold M. Zwicky
• play malaprops Arnold M. Zwicky
• play malaprops sagehen
• play malaprops Arnold M. Zwicky
• play malaprops Laurence Urdang
• play malaprops Wilson Gray
• play malaprops Joel S. Berson

• malaprop Landau, James
• malaprop Scot LaFaive
• malaprop Arnold M. Zwicky
• malaprop Joel S. Berson

• some kind of malaprop Arnold M. Zwicky
• some kind of malaprop Erik Hoover
• some kind of malaprop Chris F Waigl
• some kind of malaprop Charles Doyle
• some kind of malaprop Arnold M. Zwicky
• some kind of malaprop Arnold M. Zwicky

• eggcorn versus malaprop James Landau
• eggcorn versus malaprop Benjamin Zimmer
• eggcorn versus malaprop FRITZ JUENGLING
• eggcorn versus malaprop Bapopik
• eggcorn versus malaprop sagehen
• eggcorn versus malaprop Laurence Horn
• eggcorn versus malaprop Jonathan Lighter
• eggcorn versus malaprop Brenda Lester

• malaprop? or what? Arnold M. Zwicky
• malaprop? or what? David Bowie
• malaprop? or what? Jonathan Lighter
• malaprop? or what? Laurence Horn
• malaprop? or what? David Bowie
• malaprop? or what? Jonathan Lighter

• Nigerian malaproppery Mark A. Mandel
• Nigerian malaproppery Sam Clements
• Nigerian malaproppery Laurence Horn
• Nigerian malaproppery Dan Goodman
• Nigerian malaproppery Arnold M. Zwicky
• Nigerian malaproppery Laurence Horn
• Nigerian malaproppery Douglas G. Wilson
• Nigerian malaproppery Laurence Horn
• Nigerian malaproppery sagehen
• Nigerian malaproppery Stahlke, Herbert F.W.

• malaprop amongst the flowers Mark A. Mandel

• malaprop amongst the flowers Arnold M. Zwicky
• malaprop amongst the flowers Barbara Need
• malaprop amongst the flowers Arnold M. Zwicky
• malaprop amongst the flowers George Thompson
• malaprop amongst the flowers Laurence Horn

Malaprops on American On-Line News James A. Landau

Yogi Berra AKA Lawrence Peter Berra
Born: 12-May-1925
Birthplace: St. Louis, MO
Died: 22-Sep-2015
Location of death: West Caldwell, NJ
Cause of death: unspecified
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Baseball
Nationality: United States
Executive summary: New York Yankee "malapropist"
Military service: US Navy (WWII)
...

Words for funny uses of words: malaprop | | mondegreen | rodomontade
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The synonym "malapropism" derives form "malaprop", and not vice versa.
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"malaprop"

"Mrs. Malaprop", character in R. B. Sheridan's comedy "The Rivals", noted for her misuse of words

humorous misuse of a word sounding like the one intended

Malapropism (W3)

"malapropism": A humorously mispronounced or misused word or phrase. "Mrs Malaprop", character in play "The Rivals" by Irish dramatist Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816).

"malapropism"

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms
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Word History:

Today's Good Word is a commonization of the surname of "Mrs. Malaprop", a character in Richard Sheridan's comedy "The Rivals". "Mrs. Malaprop" was noted for using wrong words, but words that made sense in a humorous way. Sheridan, who was wonderful at creating funny but appropriate names, derived her name from the French phrase "mal à propos" "inappropriate". "Mrs. Malaprop" thus is the eponym of "malapropism".

Malapropisms

By Sharon
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5 Mixed-Up Malapropisms

4 Exasperating Malapropisms

malapropism: the usually unintentionally humorous misuse of a word.

"malapropism", noun

• 1. an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.
• 2. an instance of this, as in “Lead the way and we'll precede.”.

...

"malapropism" (n.) 1826, from "Mrs. Malaprop", character in Sheridan's play "The Rivals" (1775), noted for her ridiculous misuse of large words (such as "contagious countries" for "contiguous countries"), her name coined from "malapropos".

"malaprop" (n.) 1823, from name of theatrical character "Mrs. Malaprop" (see "malapropism"). Related: "Malapropian".

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The word "malapropism" comes from the fictitious character of "Mrs. Malaprop". Find out more about Mrs. Malaprop and her original malapropisms.
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In his 1775 Restoration comedy, The Rivals, Richard Sheridan introduced a humorous character by the name of "Mrs. Malaprop". The name is derived from the French "mal à propos", which means inappropriate (we also have the word "malapropos" in English), and describes the manner in which she used many words in her speech. See some Mrs. Malaprop quotations here.
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Famous Malapropisms

Famous people are far from immune to making mistakes. Unfortunately for them, unlike us "nobodies", when they come out with a hilarious slip of the tongue it is often recorded for posterity on pages like this! Below is a selection of celebrity malapropisms - from politicians, TV stars, and sports personalities. Can you spot the inappropriately used word in each quotation?
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What Is a Malapropism?
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But Sheridan’s "Mrs. Malaprop" wasn’t the first fictional character to utter "malapropisms". In his play "Much Ado About Nothing", William Shakespeare created a character called Dogberry, a watchman who constantly tosses off malapropisms:
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8 Embarrassing (Yet Common) Malapropisms

Chi Luu July 27, 2016

The Monstrous Words Lurking in Your Language

Mrs. Malaprop (from whom the malapropism got its name ) in a production of "The Rivals."

Who would even remember that “vitamin” once came from “vital” and “mineral“? [geprägt von Casimir Funk (1884-1967) aus lat. "vita" = dt. "Leben" und engl. "amine" = dt. "organische Stickstoffverbindung", "Amin".
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Malapropisms and the Structure of the Mental Lexicon

David Fay and Anne Cutler

Linguistic Inquiry

Vol. 8, No. 3 (Summer, 1977), pp. 505-520

Published by: The MIT Press

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4177997

Page Count: 16

Virginia: What's a malapropism?

Wesley: It's when you accidentally replete a word with another word that sounds somewhat simian, often with comic effect.
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• Terrific malapropism Geoff Nathan

• medical malapropism: "in lieu of" for "in light of" Mark Mandel
• medical malapropism: "in lieu of" for "in light of" Neal Whitman

• classical malapropism / mishearing Arnold Zwicky
• classical malapropism / mishearing Mark Mandel
• classical malapropism / mishearing Arnold Zwicky

• Double malapropism (was double eggcorn) David A. Daniel

• Eggcorn or Malapropism? Philip E. Cleary
• Eggcorn or Malapropism? Arnold M. Zwicky

• Cool malapropism/eggcorn Geoffrey S. Nathan
• Cool malapropism/eggcorn Arnold M. Zwicky
• Cool malapropism/eggcorn Dennis R. Preston
• Cool malapropism/eggcorn Charles Doyle
• Cool malapropism/eggcorn Benjamin Zimmer
• Cool malapropism/eggcorn Arnold M. Zwicky
• Cool malapropism/eggcorn Amy West
• Cool malapropism/eggcorn Amy West
• Cool malapropism/eggcorn Tom Zurinskas
• Cool malapropism/eggcorn Arnold M. Zwicky
• Cool malapropism/eggcorn Amy West
• Cool malapropism/eggcorn Benjamin Zimmer

• Malapropism (?) Charles Doyle
• Malapropism (?) Arnold M. Zwicky
• Malapropism (?) Michael H Covarrubias
• Malapropism (?) Charles Doyle

• Eggcorn or malapropism? "midriff-bearing" Joel S. Berson

• Antedating of "Malapropism" Fred Shapiro
• Antedating of "Malapropism" Arnold M. Zwicky

Search Results: ADS-L: 92 matches (only the first 50 will be shown).

• 058019 06/03/03 17:27 32 Re: Eggcorn: illegible?
• 058016 06/03/03 16:52 70 Re: Eggcorn?
• 058002 06/03/03 16:36 35 Re: Eggcorn: illegible?
• 058010 06/03/03 11:25 50 Re: Eggcorn?
• 057998 06/03/03 10:26 40 Re: Eggcorn: illegible?
• 057997 06/03/03 10:07 24 Eggcorn: illegible?
• 055543 05/12/02 07:03 56 Re: A funny Hoosier mangling
• 053801 05/09/15 09:58 44 Re: Bush Inaugural Malapropism
• 053790 05/09/15 08:02 35 Re: Bush Inaugural Malapropism
• 053787 05/09/15 02:31 37 Re: Bush Inaugural Malapropism
• 053773 05/09/14 20:36 30 Bush Inaugural Malapropism
• 053252 05/08/31 12:36 55 Re: how to escalate a problem
• 053249 05/08/31 11:15 39 Re: how to escalate a problem
• 053021 05/08/20 20:46 51 Re: "Chinaman's chance" in the news
• 053020 05/08/20 20:06 58 Re: "Chinaman's chance" in the news
• 053019 05/08/20 19:52 33 Re: "Chinaman's chance" in the news
• 053018 05/08/20 19:13 37 Re: "Chinaman's chance" in the news
• 051393 05/06/27 13:35 29 Re: Wheedling
• 049393 05/05/12 10:50 48 Re: Eggcorn?
• 049182 05/05/05 22:01 36 Re: dog-eat-dog (1872)
• 047988 05/03/30 07:29 23 Re: Antedating of "Malapropism"
• 047977 05/03/30 06:54 27 Antedating of "Malapropism"
• 045383 05/01/28 20:04 46 Re: Hobbesian choice
• 045373 05/01/28 17:11 129 Re: Hobbesian choice
• 045376 05/01/28 15:19 33 Re: Hobbesian choice
• 045369 05/01/28 12:40 90 Hobbesian choice
• 038986 04/06/26 11:10 148 the thin line between error and mere variation
• 036731 04/03/02 00:37 31 Heavens to Betsy and X hands 'round!
• 036059 04/02/01 19:29 21 Re: words of prey
• 035413 03/12/28 19:49 76 Re: Not Chopped Liver (1947); Texas Toast (1960); Ants on a Log (1983)
• 035412 03/12/28 18:56 39 Re: Not Chopped Liver (1947); Texas Toast (1960); Ants on a Log (1983)
• 035381 03/12/27 09:46 27 Re: Not Chopped Liver (1947); Texas Toast (1960); Ants on a Log (1983)
• 034496 03/10/31 10:35 24 Wheedling
• 032700 03/07/09 12:03 51 Hobson v. Hobbes
• 028273 02/12/21 02:43 25 Inchoate
• 028069 02/12/13 11:54 16 Not-quite homographs
• 027910 02/12/09 08:55 39 Re: Not-quite-homophonic errors
• 027901 02/12/09 08:27 20 Re: Not-quite-homophonic errors
• 025434 02/09/02 21:17 147 go pear-shaped; prevaricate
• 021738 02/04/11 08:31 48 Re: Qualified success
• 014883 01/04/25 06:43 34 No man is an Ireland
• 005328 00/03/20 09:17 43 Re: chain gangs and bucket brigades
• 004562 00/02/16 08:29 54 Re: Instances of unmodified hair-day
• 003528 99/12/15 23:09 28 Re: CANCEL SUBSCRIPTION
• 003519 99/12/15 10:24 45 Re: CANCEL SUBSCRIPTION
• 003518 99/12/15 07:16 27 Re: CANCEL SUBSCRIPTION
• 000344 99/05/18 14:54 17 Re: Mrs. Malaprop lives
• 000346 99/05/18 14:48 33 Re: Mrs. Malaprop lives
• 000285 99/05/14 14:24 20 Mrs. Malaprop lives
• 071282 07/06/09 16:16 94 swab >> swap
• 071244 07/06/08 18:49 86 Re: deliberate mistakes
• 071174 07/06/07 14:46 45 Re: deliberate mistakes
• 071170 07/06/07 09:58 62 deliberate mistakes
• 071113 07/06/06 11:18 60 Re: play malaprops
• 069985 07/05/10 23:21 75 Re: bollards, bolsters, who cares?
• 069908 07/05/08 23:23 48 Re: bollards, bolsters, who cares?
• 069802 07/05/05 15:57 61 Re: "snubbing your nose"
• 069809 07/05/05 15:47 136 Re: "snubbing your nose"
• 069807 07/05/05 15:29 108 Re: "snubbing your nose"
• 069407 07/04/25 05:11 50 Re: More on "calvary"
• 069401 07/04/25 00:11 40 Re: More on "calvary"
• 069400 07/04/24 23:49 30 Re: More on "calvary"
• 069399 07/04/24 22:45 119 Irrevelant: (was More on: "calvary")
• 069398 07/04/24 21:29 99 Re: More on "calvary"
• 069397 07/04/24 20:20 68 Re: More on "calvary"
• 069391 07/04/24 11:12 111 Re: More on "calvary"
• 069388 07/04/24 10:11 61 Re: More on "calvary"
• 068990 07/04/11 07:50 33 Anthropods [sic]
• 068779 07/04/06 14:43 39 Re: Pontius "Pie Late"; prolific
• 068772 07/04/06 13:12 32 Re: Pontius "Pie Late"; prolific
• 068789 07/04/06 12:27 64 Re: Pontius "Pie Late"; prolific
• 068682 07/04/03 11:42 34 Re: pollution for pollination
• 068247 07/03/14 19:21 71 Re: some kind of malaprop
• 068248 07/03/14 15:45 30 Re: some kind of malaprop
• 068245 07/03/14 14:45 49 Re: some kind of malaprop
• 068244 07/03/14 11:40 31 some kind of malaprop
• 066228 06/12/26 10:23 63 Re: Fwd: [Fwd: wikipedia eggcorn page]
• 065319 06/12/03 21:19 100 Re: Origin of the word "Gizmo" (also "dudgeon" footnote)
• 064793 06/11/15 09:52 40 Re: Malapropism (?)
• 064792 06/11/15 09:07 51 Re: Malapropism (?)
• 064790 06/11/15 08:45 16 Malapropism (?)
• 064791 06/11/15 05:52 26 Re: Malapropism (?)
• 063858 06/10/23 10:37 59 "excrudescent"
• 063073 06/09/27 14:06 28 Eggcorn or malapropism? "midriff-bearing"
• 062281 06/09/01 10:07 50 "on beha(l)ve of"
• 061774 06/08/10 12:27 24 Re: Eggcorn: itinerary for inventory
• 058856 06/04/09 14:02 53 Re: word finding
• 058852 06/04/09 10:01 72 word finding
• 058089 06/03/07 04:19 66 Re: all that and a (mere) bag o' shells
• 058085 06/03/06 23:38 62 Re: all that and a (mere) bag o' shells
• 058083 06/03/06 23:26 45 all that and a (mere) bag o' shells

Nov 02 malapropism

"Goodman Aiskowitz" was born on this date in 1899. Who was "Goodman Aiskowitz"? He was the radio actor, writer, and columnist better remembered as "Goodman Ace". Together with his wife Jane, Ace created and starred in "Easy Aces", a long-running radio comedy whose translation into television was less successful. Ace called "TV" 'a clever contraction derived from the words "Terrible Vaudeville"' and went on to label it "our latest medium" before confiding, "[w]e call it a medium because nothing is well done."

But let's go back to the radio series that made Goodman Ace a household name. That domestic comedy featured his wife saying such classic lines as the double-entendre "I am his awfully-wedded wife"; the philosophic "home wasn't built in a day"; and the pragmatic "the chickens have come home to roast."

Wordlovers and wits know such word twists are named "malapropisms" after "Mrs. Malaprop", the similarly misspeaking character in Richard Sheridan's stage play "The Rivals". Radio actress Jane Ace updated the usually unintentionally humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase from the 18th century to the 20th century when she proudly proclaimed herself "a ragged individualist" and offered up a bemused "you could have knocked me down with a fender."

malapropism

Spoonerisms, Mondegreens, Eggcorns, and Malapropisms

Learn what these words mean and whether you've ever spoken a spoonerism or heard a mondegreen.
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Modern Malapropisms

Grammar Girl features an excerpt from Robert Alden Rubin's new book Going to Hell in a Hen Basket: An Illustrated Dictionary of Modern Malapropisms.
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Questions arising from error (real or perceived): "solecism", "malapropism", "mondegreens", "eggcorns", "disputed usages", so-called "corruption", "folk etymologies", but also requests for interpretation when the text in question arguably contains an error, and questions which stem from a misunderstanding. Do not use when an error has not been made: for example, "which is correct" questions arise from uncertainty, not error.

Malapropism
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See Also: Irony; Hyperbole; Sarcasm; Slang; Jargon; Tautology; Understatement; Litotes; Rhetorical Question; Cliche; Allegory Portmanteau Word; Spoonerism

Wednesday, September 2nd / Wednesday, May 14th

malapropism

Not What I Meant to Say Word of the Day:

This noun belongs to the select set of English words derived from the names of fictional characters. Mrs. Malaprop, from Sheridan's 18th century play The Rivals, rarely missed an opportunity to use the wrong word, to great comic effect. Slips of the tongue today pay homage to her.

Medical Misapprehensions

August 7, 2008

By Ben Zimmer

On the Web you can find some well-traveled lists of medical malapropisms, supposedly collected from patients who misunderstand names of diseases and medications. So for instance, "Alzheimer's disease" becomes "old-timer's disease", "sickle-cell anemia" becomes "sick as hell anemia", "spinal meningitis" becomes "smilin' mighty Jesus", and "phenobarbital" becomes "peanut butter balls". These lists are good for a laugh, but it turns out misunderstandings of medical terminology can sometimes have dangerous or even deadly consequences.
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CandlepowerAd and marketing creatives

A Time to Flout, A Time to Flaunt

June 17, 2010

By Julia Rubiner

I listen to a lot of NPR. Unless the correspondent is doing a "man in the street"-type interview, the subjects generally appear intelligent, educated and literate. At least they used to. I've heard several malapropisms in recent weeks, some of which are so common that I figure it's time I spoke up.
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Dog EaredBooks we love

Eggcorns Finally Get Their Due in a Bountiful Book of Malapropisms

October 8, 2015

By Mark Peters

Do you like sowing your wild oaks? Do you sometimes feel like a social leopard? Could you use a new leaf on life? Or do you just enjoy the infinite creativity of the English language, even when people make mistakes? If you answered yes to any of the above, you need to check out Robert Alden Rubin's terrific new book Going to Hell in a Hen Basket: An Illustrated Dictionary of Modern Malapropisms.
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• "malaprop": the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar
• "malapropism": misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar

"Mrs. Malaprop", a character in The Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan - "malapropism" (a humorous misuse of a word)

Malapropisms

Word Unit: Malapropisms, Part 1 (Mrs. Malaprop and her Malapropisms)

Malapropism is defined as a ridiculous misuse of words

The forms malaprop and malapropism are an allusion to Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Richard Sheridan's play The Rivals (1775), noted for her ridiculous misuse of words.

Sheridan coined her name with a back formation from malapropos which means "in an inappropriate or awkward manner and at the wrong time or place".

The term was borrowed from French mal à propos, “badly for the purpose, inappropriate” (mal “badly”; à propos, “appropriately, to the purpose”).

Here are a few of the original malapropisms from the lady herself, Mrs. Malaprop:
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Malapropisms uttered by other people
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The Bushisms
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Here are a few malapropisms that have been gathered from around the Internet:
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Word Unit: Malapropisms, Part 2 (Ludicrous-English Caused by Blunders and Incompetence)

Be aware of faulty speech and writing habits so you can confirm and strengthen the good ones
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The Origin of the Word Malapropism

“She’s as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile” and “He is the very pineapple of politeness” are two of the absurd pronouncements from "Mrs. Malaprop" that explain why her name became synonymous with the ludicrous misuse of English.

A character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s play "The Rivals" (1775), "Mrs. Malaprop" consistently uses language "malapropos", that is, "inappropriately". The word "malapropos" comes from the French phrase "mal á propos", made up of "mal"; "bad, badly" and "á", "to" and "propos", "purpose, subject"; and means "inappropriate".

The Rivals was a popular play, and "Mrs. Malaprop" became enshrined in a common noun, first in the form "malaprop" and later in "malapropism"; which is first recorded in 1849. Perhaps that is what "Mrs. Malaprop" feared when she said, "If I reprehend any thing in this world, it is the use of my oracular tongue, and a nice derangement of epitaphs!"

Language Is Essential to Our Success in Life
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Just What Does Ludicrous Mean?
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"Ludicrous" was borrowed from Latin "ludicrus", from "ludicrum", "joke, amusement", and from "ludere", "to play". The current sense of causing derisive laughter, ridiculous, is first recorded in English in 1782, in Frances Burney's Cecilia.
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Ludicrous Headlines, Advertisements, and Other Malapropisms

Examples of Ludicrous-Newspaper Statements
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Word Unit: Quotes: Malaprops, Malapropisms (speaking a foreign language in English; the inability to tell what a person does not mean until he/she has spoken).

Quotations
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malapropism

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ETYMOLOGY:

After Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Richard Sheridan's play, The Rivals (1775), who confused words in this manner. The name Malaprop is coined from French "mal à propos" (inappropriate). Earliest documented use: 1830.
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• malaprop
• malapropic
• malapropism
• malapropisms
• malapropistic
• malapropos
• malapropped
• malapropping
• malaprops
• Examples of Malapropism
  

malapropos (W3)

"malapropos", adjective [mal-ap-ruh-POH] = "unseasonable"; "unsuitable"; "inappropriate".

Definitions for malapropos

• 1.Unseasonable; unsuitable; inappropriate.
• 2.In an inappropriate or inopportune manner; unseasonably.

Origin of "malapropos": French, 1660-1670, "malapropos" comes from French mal à propos, "badly to the purpose".

malapropos

malapropos

"malapropos": at an inconvenient time

Mrs. Malaprop (W3)

Malaprop (Mrs.)

Chi Luu / July 27, 2016

The Monstrous Words Lurking in Your Language

Mrs. Malaprop (from whom the malapropism got its name ) in a production of "The Rivals."

“You have hissed all my mystery lectures. I saw you fight a liar in the back quad; in fact, you have tasted a whole worm. You will leave by the next town drain.”

(“You have missed all my history lectures. I saw you light a fire in the back quad; in fact, you have wasted a whole term. You will leave by the next down train.”).

Perhaps no Oxford don has been quite so celebrated for his error-prone speech than the absent-minded Reverend "William A. Spooner", who lent his name to the often comical practice of switching around the speech sounds of different words. Whether Reverend Spooner ever said those actual words or not, it’s true that "spoonerisms" and other such slips of the tongue can reveal some pretty interesting things about language — how we associate and map words and sounds in our brains.
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• [Ads-l] Mrs. Malaprop writing news stories again... GUY LETOURNEAU Owner
• [Ads-l] Mrs. Malaprop writing news stories again... Dave Hause
• [Ads-l] Mrs. Malaprop writing news stories again... George Thompson
• [Ads-l] Mrs. Malaprop writing news stories again... Dan Goncharoff
• [Ads-l] Mrs. Malaprop writing news stories again... ADSGarson O'Toole
• [Ads-l] Mrs. Malaprop writing news stories again... (UNCLASSIFIED) Mullins, Bill CIV (US)

• Mrs. Malaprop lives Peter McGraw
• Mrs. Malaprop lives James E. Clapp
• Mrs. Malaprop lives A. Vine
• Mrs. Malaprop lives Lynne Murphy
• Mrs. Malaprop lives Bruce K. Dykes
• Mrs. Malaprop lives Ron Butters
• Mrs. Malaprop lives Peter McGraw
• Mrs. Malaprop lives A. Vine

CandlepowerAd and marketing creatives

Prostate With Grief

September 22, 2009

By Julia Rubiner

Want to avoid using words that "sound somewhat like the ones intended but are ludicrously wrong in the context"? Let our Editorial Emergency team, Simon Glickman and Julia Rubiner, help you to avoid coming off like the reincarnation of "Mrs. Malaprop"!

We got such an outpouring of "I know, right?" on our piece "She Literally Misused the Word" that we've decided to follow through on an earlier promise we made, when we wrote: "Next time: "Malapropisms" — you know, when people say distract when they mean detract, or antidote when they mean anecdote."
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"malaprop": "Mrs. Malaprop", character in R. B. Sheridan's comedy The Rivals, noted for her misuse of words humorous misuse of a word sounding like the one intended

Partridge, Eric
Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
Colloquialisms, and Catch-Phrases, Solecisms and Catachresis, Nicknames, and Vulgarisms

Wordslinger Eric Partridge intended his dictionary to be a "humble companion" to the Oxford English Dictionary - a ribald companion is more like it! In Partridge's domain, a gentleman's pleasure-garden has little to do with the horticultural, referring as it does to the genitalia muliebria. On the other hand, "play pussy" is a Royal Air Force term meaning "to take advantage of cloud cover", and since the 1970s British forces have called intelligence operatives secret squirrels. And so it goes.

There is enough slang, cant (i.e., "language of the underworld"), and "expletives" here for all takers - there's low, Cockney rhyming, "picturesque Australian similes", society phrases, and even the semiproverbial. Dorothy Wordsworth, of all people, used a nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse - a phrase "applied to a covert yet comprehensible hint, though often stupidity is implied".

Partridge also reveals low language's less larky side. His book can be a dark record of linguistic prejudice through the ages. Of course, in a slang dictionary, nothing is what it seems. Elevated means "drunk"; a deep-freezer is "a girl or woman of the prim or keep-off-me type"; and stage fright is late-20th-century rhyming slang for "a (glass of) light (ale)". Are you able to descry what the jocular Seduce my ancient footwear really means? If not, consider consulting Partridge's masterwork, as large as life and twice as natural.

Toseland, Martin
The Ants Are My Friends
Misheard Lyrics, Malapropisms, Eggcorns, and Other Linguistic Gaffes

Overview

Do you take things for granite? Do you need a secretary at your beckoned call? In "The Ants Are My Friends" — delightfully misheard from Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind" — Martin Toseland has collected the very best, and very worst, linguistic gifts of the gaffe. Examples have been plucked gleefully from three categories of blunders: "malapropisms" — named after "Mrs. Malaprop" in Sheridan's play The Rivals where the wrong word pops out to bizarre results; "eggcorns" — where a new word is created from misheard real one (the name comes from someone misunderstanding "acorn" as "eggcorn", as it has the same shape); and of course "mondegreens", or misheard lyrics, a rich vein of accidental invention. Such classic mondegreens are collected as Ray Parker Jr.'s "Who Ya Gonna Call, Gus Foster", Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams are Made of Cheese", Roy Orbison's "Only Baloney", AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done with Sheep", and Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tangerine Man".

ISBN-13: 9781906032067