Talk:malapropism

Is there any real difference between 1. and 2. meaning?


 * No, they are the same. Fixed. —Stephen 08:14, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

V: malaprop
According to the OED, the verb form is "malaprop"

1. intr. To utter a malapropism. 1959 I. JEFFERIES Thirteen Days v. 67 The usage was so wild that I thought he was malapropping. 1985 Observer 6 Oct. 46/7 The urge to malaprop arises from three fine old English qualities..unrepentant ignorance..contempt for other races..the steadfast belief that whatever any English person says must be right.

2. trans. To make a malapropism of (a word); to utter in the manner of a malapropism. 1970 M. TRIPP Man without Friends iii. 27 She malaprops any word of more than two syllables. 1998 New Yorker 30 Nov. 24/1 ‘It helps your skin scar better,’ malaprops the counterman about the blue cream.

However, that doesn't help me with the more complicated information needed for adding this form of the word to this entry. Can someone else do this? Miss Mondegreen | Talk  04:58, 28 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Wrong word form. This belongs under malaprop. —Stephen 11:44, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

The four example sentences in this entry provide no clarity on the actual meaning of the word.

75.69.229.191 04:43, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

Agreed, they blur the usage so much it lacks any definition. The term malapropism is derived from the character Miss Malaprop in Sheridan's comedy The Rivals (1775), a malapropism is any well-intended saying that takes on a different and often ludicrous meaning when a similar yet utterly inappropriate word is used.

e.g. (Act 1, Page 6 "The Rivals")

Enter Mrs. Malaprop, and Sir Anthony Absolute.

Mrs. Mal. There, Sir Anthony, there sits the deliberate simpleton who wants to disgrace her family, and lavish herself on a fellow not worth a shilling.

Lyd. Madam, I thought you once——

Mrs. Mal. You thought, miss! I don’t know any business you have to think at all—thought does not become a young woman. But the point we would request of you is, that you will promise to forget this fellow—to illiterate him, I say, quite from your memory.

In the phrase "to illiterate him, I say, quite from your memory." the use of the word 'illiterate' in lieu of 'obliterate' is the Malapropism.

archived talk

 * malapropism

Move to an appendix (if one doesn't already exist.) --Connel MacKenzie 23:01, 22 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I assume you mean that the list of examples should be moved, not the complete entry. Some of these also appear on the Wikipedia article for Malapropism, which is primarily a list of examples, so we could just transfer then to WP. --EncycloPetey 14:01, 23 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Sorry, yes, I meant the examples. I think we could have our own appendix entry, but don't care either way.  --Connel MacKenzie 19:10, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Dogberryism
A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) JMGN (talk) 11:34, 22 March 2023 (UTC)