Word of the Day: Malapropism

(Noun)

Pronunciation: ['mæ-lê-prahp-iz-êm] Listen

Definition: The unintentional use of one word that sounds a bit like another (almost homophones), but which is completely and hilariously wrong in context.

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Usage: Like another recent Word of the Day, "spoonerism," a malapropism is a type of speech error that happens to be funny. A "malapropist" is someone noted for their malapropisms and the adjective is "malapropian." However, "malaprop" may be used by itself as a noun, verb, or adjective: "Her malaprops will keep her from the top" or "Her malaprop speech undermined her career" or "He could have been a contender but he malapropped once too often in a top-level meeting."

Suggested Usage: Comedian Norm Crosby, king of the malaprops, always speaks from his diagram and drinks only decapitated coffee. Still, we don't suggest you malaprop but simply enjoy the malapropisms you hear around you: "This restaurant has quite a lovely ambulance!" "Such an attractive man—he's got a very appalling way about him." "A missile defense shield could start a new clear war." Enough already! To paraphrase Mrs. Malaprop, lead the way out of here and we'll precede.

Etymology: A commonization (conversion from proper to common noun) circa 1849 from Mrs. Malaprop, a character noted for her misuse of words in Richard Sheridan's comedy "The Rivals" (1775). Sheridan created her name from the French phrase mal à propos "inappropriate." Mrs. Malaprop thus is the eponym of "malapropism."

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