Malapropisms

Malapropisms Malapropisms Malapropisms By Sharon Sheridans 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. Thats where we get the word malapropism from, though its real origin is in the French phrase mal propos, meaning inopportune or not to the purpose. When someone uses a malapropism, its because: theyve 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, its 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 Hes 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) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Punctuate References to Dates and TimesOne Fell SwoopOne Scissor?