malapropism

English

WOTD – 10 February 2007

Etymology

From the name of Mrs. Malaprop, a character in the play The Rivals (1775) by Richard Brinsley Sheridan + -ism. As dramatic characters in English comic plays of this time often had allusive names, it is likely that Sheridan fashioned the name from malapropos (“inappropriate; inappropriately”), from French mal à propos. Mrs. Malaprop is perhaps the best-known example of a familiar comedic character archetype who unintentionally substitutes inappropriate but like-sounding words that take on a ludicrous meaning when used incorrectly.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmæləpɹɒpˌɪzəm/
(US) enPR: mălʹə-prä-pĭzʹ-əm, IPA^(key): /ˈmæləpɹɑpˌɪzəm/
Audio (US) (file)

Noun

malapropism (countable and uncountable, plural malapropisms)

(uncountable) The blundering use of an absurdly inappropriate word or expression in place of a similar-sounding one.
The script employed malapropism to great effect.
(countable) An instance of this; malaprop.
The translator matched every malapropism in the original with one from his own language.
The humor comes from all the malapropisms.

Alternative forms

malapropoism (obsolete)

Synonyms

(instance of malapropism): malaprop, catachresis

Translations

the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression

Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Dutch: verhaspeling (nl) f
Finnish: malapropismi
French: abus de langage (fr) m, malapropisme (fr) m, impropriété (fr) f
Hungarian: paronimák felcserélése, paronimák összekeverése
Irish: mífheilteachas m
Japanese: 言い間違い (iimachigai)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: xeletbêjî (ku), malapropîzm
Manx: neuchooieid focklagh
Polish: malapropizm (pl) m
Russian: малапропи́зм (ru) m (malapropízm)
Scottish Gaelic: ain-eirmseachd f
Spanish: gazapo (es) m, malapropismo m, yerro (es) m