Malapropisms
Sheridan’s 18th century play, The Rivals, featured a hilarious character called Mrs Malaprop, who was apt to drop a verbal clanger whenever she opened her mouth. That’s where we get the word malapropism from, though its real origin is in the French phrase mal à propos, meaning inopportune or not to the purpose.
When someone uses a malapropism, it’s because:
- they’ve used a word that was not what they intended, given the context
- the word used sounds similar to the one intended
- the word used actually means something different (in other words, it’s not a made up word)
Malapropisms are often the same part of speech, begin or end in the same way or have the same rhythm when spoken.
Here are a few malapropisms. Feel free to add a few of your own in the comments thread.
From The Rivals
- “He’s as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile.” (alligator)
- “He is the very pineapple of politeness.” (pinnacle)
- “I am sorry to say, Sir Anthony, that my affluence over my niece is very small.” (influence)
- “I thought she had persisted from corresponding with him;” (desisted)
- “Make no delusions to the past.” (allusions)
From The Other Pages
- Damp weather is very hard on the sciences. (sinuses)
- Having one wife is called monotony. (monogamy)
- A rolling stone gathers no moths. (moss)
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The Sopranos had a lot of great malapropisms too.
Here’s a cute one. “In spring, the salmon swim upstream to spoon.” (spawn)
I’m rather fond of Goldwynisms myself.
If you’re giving grammar lessons, you might want to learn some yourself. You should know that ‘they’ refers to MORE THAN ONE PERSON, and the correct statement above should read “he’s used a word that was not what they intended, given the context,” rather than “they’ve.” Spare us.
Whoops, I mean “he’s used a word that was not what HE intended, given the context.”
You’ve just made too many mistakes to correct them all in one sitting, I suppose.
Jon, as much as I don’t like it, “they” has become the “pc” nongender identifier over the last few years. Personally “they” rubs me the wrong way. But I’d never be rude enough to post what you did here; rather, perhaps a private email may have been the proper route to take.