was wotd|2007|February|10
wikipedia
English
Etymology
A reference to Mrs. Malaprop, a character in the play w:The Rivals|The Rivals (1775) by w:Richard Brinsley Sheridan|Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Throughout the play, Mrs. Malaprop uses inappropriate, but like-sounding, words for comic effect. As dramatic characters in English comic plays of this time often had allusive names, it is likely that Sheridan fashioned the name from term|malapropos "inappropriate".
Pronunciation
italbrac|RP IPA|/�mæl�pr�pɪz�m/
italbrac|US IPA|/�mæl�pr��pɪz�m/
audio|en-us-malapropism.ogg|Audio (US)
Noun
en-noun
- uncountable The blundering use of an absurdly inappropriate word in place of a similar sounding one.
#:Malapropism is much older as a phenomenon than it is as a word.
#:Don't engage in malapropism.
- countable An instance of this.
#:The translator matched every malapropism in the original with one from his own language.
#:The humor comes from all the malapropisms.
Translations
Spanish: gazapo m
See also
For examples of malapropism, see Appendix:Malapropisms|appendix.
eggcorn
folk etymology
mondegreen
typo
Category:English eponyms
Category:English nouns ending in -ism
ru:malapropism
vi:malapropism
tr:malapropism
zh:malapropism
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