malapropism

malapropism
\ \ [19] English owes the word malapropism to Mrs Malaprop, a character in Richard Sheridan’s play The Rivals 1775 whose grandiloquent impulses led her to use slightly (but ludicrously) the wrong word: amongst the most familiar of her errors are ‘contagious countries’ (for contiguous), ‘a supercilious knowledge in accounts’ (for superficial), and ‘as head-strong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile’. Sheridan based the name on malaproposinappropriate’ [17], an anglicization of French mal à propos, literally ‘badly to the purpose’ (on mal, see MALIGN).
\ \ Cf.MALIGN, PROPOSE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • malapropism — malapropísm s. n. Trimis de siveco, 10.08.2004. Sursa: Dicţionar ortografic  MALAPROPÍSM s. n. folosire greşită, substituire a unui cuvânt. (< engl. malapropism) Trimis de raduborza, 15.09.2007. Sursa: MDN …   Dicționar Român

  • malapropism — mal a*prop*ism, n. [From Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Sheridan s drama, The Rivals, who makes amusing blunders in her use of words. See {Malapropos}.] A grotesque misuse of a word; a word so used. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • malapropism — index error, misapplication, misusage Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • malapropism — 1826, from Mrs. Malaprop, character in Sheridan s play The Rivals (1775), noted for her ridiculous misuse of large words (e.g. contagious countries for contiguous countries ), her name coined from MALAPROPOS (Cf. malapropos) …   Etymology dictionary

  • malapropism — (US also malaprop) ► NOUN ▪ the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar sounding one (e.g. ‘dance a flamingo’ instead of flamenco). ORIGIN from the name of the character Mrs Malaprop in Richard Sheridan s play The Rivals (1775) …   English terms dictionary

  • malapropism — [mal′ə präp΄iz΄əm] n. [< MALAPROP Mrs. + ISM] 1. ludicrous misuse of words, esp. through confusion caused by resemblance in sound 2. an instance of this (Ex.: progeny for prodigy) …   English World dictionary

  • Malapropism — A malapropism is an act of misusing or the habitual misuse of similar sounding words, especially with humorous results. An example is Yogi Berra s statement: Texas has a lot of electrical votes, [1] rather than electoral votes . Contents 1… …   Wikipedia

  • malapropism — noun /ˈmæləprɒpɪzəm,ˈmæləprɑːpɪzəm/ a) The blundering use of an absurdly inappropriate word or expression in place of a similar sounding one. The script employed malapropism to great effect. b) An instance of this; malaprop. Malapropism is much… …   Wiktionary

  • malapropism — UK [ˈmæləprɒpˌɪz(ə)m] / US [ˈmæləprɑˌpɪzəm] noun [countable] Word forms malapropism : singular malapropism plural malapropisms a word that is used wrongly but sounds like the word that you should have used, especially one that creates a funny… …   English dictionary

  • malapropism — [19] English owes the word malapropism to Mrs Malaprop, a character in Richard Sheridan’s play The Rivals 1775 whose grandiloquent impulses led her to use slightly (but ludicrously) the wrong word: amongst the most familiar of her errors are… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • Malapropism —    This word entered the English language through the name of a character in The Rivals (1775), a play written by Englishman Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751 1816). The play introduced Mrs. Malaprop, an endearing late middle age woman given to… …   Dictionary of eponyms

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