| Definitions | | malapropism |
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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 .
- (countable) An instance of this.
- The translator matched every in the original with one from his own language.
- The humor comes from all the malapropisms.
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".
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Full Definition of malapropism
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