Malapropism#Etymology

File:Drew-Mrs-Malaprop.jpg as Mrs. Malaprop in an 1895 production of The Rivals]]

The word "malapropism" (and its earlier form, "malaprop") comes from a character named "Mrs. Malaprop" in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 1775 play The Rivals.{{cite encyclopedia |year=2000 |title =malapropism, n. |encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=third |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-957112-3}} Mrs. Malaprop frequently misspeaks (to comic effect) by using words which do not have the meaning that she intends but which sound similar to words that do. Sheridan chose her name in humorous reference to the word malapropos, an adjective or adverb meaning "inappropriate" or "inappropriately", derived from the French phrase mal à propos (literally "poorly placed"). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first recorded use of "malapropos" in English is from 1630,{{cite encyclopedia |year=2000 |title =malapropos, adv., adj., and n. |encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=third |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-957112-3}} and the first person known to have used the word "malaprop" specifically in the sense of "a speech error" is Lord Byron in 1814.{{cite encyclopedia |year=2000 |title =malaprop, n. and adj. |encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=third |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-957112-3}}

The synonymous term "Dogberryism" comes from the 1598 Shakespeare play Much Ado About Nothing in which the character Dogberry utters many malapropisms to humorous effect.{{cite book|title=Situated Utterances|first=Harry|last=Berger|page=499|publisher=Fordham University Press|year=2005|isbn=0-8232-2429-5}} Though Shakespeare was an earlier writer than Sheridan, "malaprop/malapropism" seems an earlier coinage than "Dogberryism", which is not attested until 1836.{{cite encyclopedia |year=2010 |title =Dogberry, n.2 |encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary online |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-957112-3 |url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/56415 |access-date=2013-09-09}}

An instance of speech error is called a malapropism when a word is produced which is nonsensical or ludicrous in context yet similar in sound to what was intended.{{cite book|last1=Aitchison |first1=Jeanne |last2=Straf |first2=Miron |editor=Anne Cutler|title=Slips of the Tongue and Language Production|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ILBaZpZIyXEC |access-date=2013-09-12 |year=1982 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-082830-6 |pages=197–242 |chapter=Lexical storage and retrieval: a developing skill?}}

Definitions differ somewhat in terms of the cause of the error. Some scholars include only errors that result from a temporary failure to produce the word which the speaker intended.{{Cite journal |title=Malapropisms and the Structure of the Mental Lexicon |jstor=4177997 |url=http://www.mpi.nl/publications/escidoc-68653 |last1=Fay |first1=David |last2=Cutler |first2=Anne |journal=Linguistic Inquiry |volume=8 |issue=3 |year=1977 |pages=505–520 |access-date=2015-10-31 |archive-date=2016-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816141201/http://www.mpi.nl/publications/escidoc-68653 |url-status=dead }} Such errors are sometimes called "Fay–Cutler malapropism", after psycholinguists David Fay and Anne Cutler, who described the occurrence of such errors in ordinary speech.{{cite book|last=Zwicky|first=Arnold|editor=Loraine Obler and Lise Menn|title=Exceptional Language and Linguistics|chapter-url=http://www.stanford.edu/~zwicky/malapropism-mental-lexicon.pdf|access-date=2013-09-12|year=1982|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-523680-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/exceptionallangu0000unse/page/115 115–132]|chapter=Classical malapropisms and the creation of the mental lexicon|url=https://archive.org/details/exceptionallangu0000unse/page/115}} Most definitions, however, include any actual word that is wrongly or accidentally used in place of a similar sounding, correct word. This broader definition is sometimes called "classical malapropism", or simply "malapropism".

Malapropisms differ from other kinds of speaking or writing mistakes, such as eggcorns or spoonerisms, as well as the accidental or deliberate production of newly made-up words (neologisms).

For example, it is not a malapropism to use obtuse [wide or dull] instead of acute [narrow or sharp]; it is a malapropism to use obtuse [stupid or slow-witted] when one means abstruse [esoteric or difficult to understand].

Malapropisms tend to maintain the part of speech of the originally intended word. According to linguist Jean Aitchison, "The finding that word selection errors preserve their part of speech suggest[s] that the latter is an integral part of the word, and tightly attached to it."{{Cite book|last=Aitchison |first=Jean |year=2012 |title=Words in the Mind: An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1118170960}} Likewise, substitutions tend to have the same number of syllables and the same metrical structure – the same pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables – as the intended word or phrase. If the stress pattern of the malapropism differs from the intended word, unstressed syllables may be deleted or inserted; stressed syllables and the general rhythmic pattern are maintained.

The fictional Mrs. Malaprop in Sheridan's play The Rivals utters many malapropisms. In Act 3 Scene III, she declares to Captain Absolute, "Sure, if I reprehend any thing in this world it is the use of my oracular tongue, and a nice derangement of epitaphs!"{{Citation |year=2008 |orig-year=1775 |title=The Rivals: A Comedy |last=Sheridan |first=Richard Brinsley |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24761 |access-date=2012-07-10}} This nonsensical utterance might, for example, be corrected to, "If I apprehend anything in this world, it is the use of my vernacular tongue, and a nice arrangement of epithets",{{cite web |title=Quotations from Richard Brinsley Sheridan |publisher=Poem Hunter |url=http://www.poemhunter.com/quotations/famous.asp?people=Richard%20Brinsley%20Sheridan&p=2 |access-date=2012-07-10}} —although these are not the only words that can be substituted to produce an appropriately expressed thought in this context, and commentators have proposed other possible replacements that work just as well.

Other malapropisms spoken by Mrs. Malaprop include "illiterate him quite from your memory" (instead of "obliterate"), "he is the very pineapple of politeness" (instead of pinnacle) and "she's as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile" (instead of alligator).There are not alligators on the banks of the Nile, although there are crocodiles.

Malapropisms appeared in many works before Sheridan created the character of Mrs. Malaprop. William Shakespeare used them in a number of his plays, almost invariably spoken by comic ill-educated lower class characters. Mistress Quickly, the inn-keeper associate of Falstaff in several Shakespeare plays, is a regular user of malapropisms.Fergusun, Margaret, Dido's Daughters: Literacy, Gender, and Empire in Early Modern England and France, University of Chicago Press, 2007, p.17. In Much Ado About Nothing, Constable Dogberry tells Governor Leonato, "Our watch, sir, have indeed comprehended two auspicious persons" (i.e., apprehended two suspicious persons) (Act 3, Scene V).{{Citation |year=1997 |orig-year=1598 |title=Much Ado About Nothing |last=Shakespeare |first=William |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1118 |access-date=2012-07-10}}

Malapropism was one of Stan Laurel's comic mannerisms. In Sons of the Desert, for example, he says that Oliver Hardy is suffering a nervous "shakedown" (rather than "breakdown"), calls the Exalted Ruler of their group the "exhausted ruler" and says that he and Oliver are like "two peas in a pot" (instead of "pod"); in The Music Box, he inadvertently asked a policeman, "Don't you think you're bounding over your steps?" meaning "overstepping your bounds",{{cite book|last=Gehring|first=Wes|title=Laurel and Hardy: A Bio-Bibliography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VcVohkED9e4C|access-date=11 December 2012|year=1990|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-25172-6}} which has much in common with the transposition of a Spoonerism. Sometimes even Laurel's partner, Oliver Hardy, also practiced malapropism, particularly correcting Stan's; in The Live Ghost Stan tells a captain that he heard the ocean is infatuated with sharks. Oliver is quick to call out Stan's malapropism only to correct him with another: "Not infatuated! He means infuriated." The correct word in question is actually infested.

Emily Litella, a fictional character created and performed by American comedian Gilda Radner used malapropism to entertain viewers on the late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live,{{cite web | title=Word of the Day: Malapropism | website=Merriam-Webster | date=2020-05-17 | url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/malapropism-2020-05-17 | access-date=2021-06-03}} including one skit in which she was puzzled over the hubbub surrounding the "plight of Soviet jewelry" instead of "Soviet Jewry".{{cite web|last=Higgins |first=Sean |title=The Censorship Doctrine: Silencing Talk Radio in the Name of 'Fairness' |work=Foundation Watch |url=https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-censorship-doctrine-silencing-talk-radio-in-the-name-of-fairness/ |date=January 1, 2009}}

British comedian Ronnie Barker also made great use of deliberate malapropisms in his comedy, notably in such sketches as his "Appeal on behalf of the Loyal Society for the Relief of Suffers from Pismronunciation", which mixed malapropisms and garbled words for comic effect – including news of a speech which "gave us a few well-frozen worms (i.e., well-chosen words) in praise of the society".[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/oct/04/bbc.arts Ronnie Barker monologue: Pismronunciation]", The Guardian, 4 October 2005. Retrieved 6 July 2015.{{Primary source inline|date=June 2016}}

Ring Lardner used malapropism extensively for comic effect.{{Cite book|title=The Lost Journalism of Ring Lardner|last=Lardner|first=Ring|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=2017|isbn=978-0803269736|editor-last=Rapoport|editor-first=Ron|location=Nebraska|pages=531}} For example, in his short story The Young Immigrunts, the four-year-old narrator repeatedly refers to a bride and groom as the "bride and glum".{{Cite book|title=Ring Lardner: Stories & Other Writings|last=Lardner|first=Ring|publisher=Library of America|year=2013|isbn=978-1598532531|editor-last=Frazier|editor-first=Ian|location=New York|pages=310}}

Archie Bunker, a character in the American TV sitcom All in the Family, used malapropisms frequently: he refers, for example, to "off-the-docks Jews" (Orthodox Jews) and the "Women's Lubrication Movement" (rather than Liberation).{{cite book |last1=Shapiro|first1=Marianne |last2=Shapiro|first2=Michael |title=From The Critic's Workbench: Essays In Literature And Semiotics |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vkww4u5BnU0C&pg=PA471 |access-date=2012-07-10 |year=2005 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-0-8204-7915-6 |chapter=Chapter 21: The semiotics of Archie Bunker}} Intending to refer to the medical specialized field of gynecology and to specialist in that field as a gynecologist, he would mispronounce the words as "groinecology" and "groinecologist".{{cite web|title=Examples of Malaproposism|url=https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-malapropism.html|publisher=YourDictionary.com|accessdate=April 2, 2022}}

Tyler Perry's fictional character Madea is known for her Southern dialectical usage of malapropisms, which some critics link to the mammy archetype.{{cite book|last1=Merritt|first1=Bishetta D.|first2=Melbourne S.|last2=Cummings|chapter=The African American Woman on Film|title=Interpreting Tyler Perry: Perspectives on Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality|year=2013 |editor=J.S.C. Bell |editor2=R.L. Jackson II|doi=10.4324/9781315889832|isbn=9781315889832}}

Ricky LaFleur of the Trailer Park Boys is known for his constant malapropisms, which are often called "Rickyisms".{{cite web |last1=Elizabeth |first1=Hilary |author2=Colin McCormick |title=Trailer Park Boys: 15 Hilarious Rickyisms We've Added To Our Vocabulary |url=https://screenrant.com/trailer-park-boys-hilarious-ricky-quotes/ |website=ScreenRant |publisher=ScreenRant |access-date=8 June 2025}}{{better source|date=June 2025|reason=Cites sources call these "Rickyisms" or "Ricky quotes", but not "malapropisms" or similar}} Some of his more notable ones include "worst case Ontario" (instead of "worst case scenario") and "two turnips in heat" (instead of "turn up the heat").{{cite web |last1=McCormick |first1=Colin |author2=Kristy Ambrose | author3=Shawn S. Lealos |title=Trailer Park Boys: 30 Hilarious Ricky Quotes That Are Just Sweet Empowered |url=https://screenrant.com/trailer-park-boys-ricky-quotes-sweet-empowered/ |website=ScreenRant |publisher=ScreenRant |access-date=8 June 2025}}

Malapropisms do not occur only as comedic literary devices. They also occur as a kind of speech error in ordinary speech. Examples are often quoted in the media:

• Australian prime minister Tony Abbott once claimed that no one "is the suppository of all wisdom" (i.e., repository or depository).{{Citation|title=Liberals squirm as Abbott refers to 'the suppository of wisdom'|publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=2013-08-12|url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/liberals-squirm-as-abbott-refers-to-the-suppository-of-wisdom-20130812-2rryy.html|access-date=2017-07-10}}

• Similarly, as reported in New Scientist, an office worker had described a colleague as "a vast suppository of information". The worker then apologised for his "Miss-Marple-ism" (i.e., malapropism).{{cite web|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18625042.600-feedback.html|title=New Scientist 18 June 2005 Malapropism for malapropism|date=2005-06-18|publisher=Newscientist.com|url-access=subscription|access-date=2012-10-02}} New Scientist noted this as possibly the first time anyone had uttered a malapropism for the word malapropism itself.
• United States president George W. Bush was known for his malapropisms. Some examples include "they misunderestimated me"{{Cite news |date=2009-01-11 |title=Top 10 Bushisms - TIME |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1870938_1870943_1870945,00.html |access-date=2025-04-23 |work=Time |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}} and "working hard to put food on your family".{{Cite web |last=Mikkelson |first=David |date=2003-02-26 |title=Make the Pie Higher! |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/make-the-pie-higher/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=Snopes |language=en}}

• Bertie Ahern, a former Taoiseach of Ireland, once warned his country against "upsetting the apple tart" (apple cart) of his country's economic success.{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1614940,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114181741/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1614940,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=November 14, 2007 | magazine=Time | title=Mr. Popularity | date=2007-04-26 | access-date=2010-05-12 | first=Catherine | last=Mayer}}

• Richard J. Daley, a former mayor of Chicago, referred to a tandem bicycle as a "tantrum bicycle" and made mention of "Alcoholics Unanimous" (Alcoholics Anonymous).{{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Eugene |title=Himself!: The Life and Times of Mayor Richard J. Daley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tAAUAAAAYAAJ |access-date=2012-07-10 |year=1978 |publisher=Viking Press |isbn=978-0-670-37258-4}}

• Longterm Lithuanian parliamentarian and then Speaker of Seimas Loreta Graužinienė has misquoted an excerpt syllabifing the native country's name as "El + ie = Lie, vė + a = tu, vė + a = va" during the celebration of the Lithuania Independence Restoration Day.{{cite news |title=Loretos Graužinienės nesėkmė: šventinio koncerto metu supainiojo raides žodyje "Lietuva" |url=https://www.15min.lt/naujiena/aktualu/lietuva/loretos-grauzinienes-nesekme-sventinio-koncerto-metu-supainiojo-raides-zodyje-lietuva-56-490215 |access-date=15 July 2024 |work=15min |date=11 March 2015 |language=lt}}

• Hall of Fame baseball player Yogi Berra was well known for corrupting speech, such as "Texas has a lot of electrical votes", rather than "electoral votes".[http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-malapropism.html Examples of Malapropism]. Examples.yourdictionary.com (2015-10-09) Berra was so adept at twisting both words and logic the term "Yogi-ism" was coined to describe his quirky utterances and observations, first recorded on his being honored in his hometown of St. Louis during his rookie season with, "I want to thank everybody for making this day necessary."

• Rick Perry, a former Governor of Texas, has been known to commonly utter malapropisms. For example, he described states as "lavatories of innovation and democracy" instead of "laboratories".Whittaker, Richard. (2014-08-29) [http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2014-08-29/perry-welcome-to-the-lavatory/ Perry: Welcome to the 'Lavatory': Perry fights charges; has an "oops" - News]. The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved on 2015-10-31.

• During a Senate hearing, Philippine presidential communications assistant secretary Mocha Uson stumbled on the legal phrase "right against self-incrimination" by invoking her "right against self-discrimination" instead.Ager, Maila. (2017-10-04) [http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/935422/mocha-invokes-right-against-self-discri-er-incrimination-at-senate-fake-news-hearing: Mocha invokes right against self-discri… er, incrimination at Senate hearing]. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.

• World heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson, upon being asked about his next plans moments after losing in a world title fight with Lennox Lewis, declared that "I might fade into Bolivian" (oblivion).{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4E7uGW1eok |author1= Billy Just |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/C4E7uGW1eok| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Mike Tyson fades into Bolivian|date=30 January 2017|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/020611|title= Say 'goodbye' to our little friend|publisher=ESPN.com |work=Page 2 |first1=Bill |last1=Simmons |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240126182638/https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/020611 |archive-date= Jan 26, 2024 }}

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, a common meme format was introduced where Internet users feigned malapropism by substituting the word "pandemic" with similar sounding words (such as "panorama", "pandemonium", or "panini"), a practice often attributed to Black Twitter.{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Evan Nicole |title=How Nicknames for the Pandemic Became a Popular Online Trend |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/19/style/pandemic-nicknames.html |url-access=subscription |website=The New York Times |access-date=10 April 2022 |date=19 March 2021}}

• United States congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has uttered various malapropisms, including "peach tree dish"{{cite web | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/marjorie-taylor-green-bill-gates-meat-b2090463.html | title=Marjorie Taylor Greene warns of meat grown in a 'peach tree dish' while peddling Bill Gates conspiracy |first1=Andrew |last1=Naughtie | website=Independent.co.uk | date=30 May 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628013005/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/marjorie-taylor-green-bill-gates-meat-b2090463.html |archive-date= Jun 28, 2023 }} (petri dish), "gazpacho police"{{Cite web |date=2022-02-12 |title=Marjorie Taylor Greene Addresses 'Gazpacho Police' Gaffe, Only Makes The Mockery Worse |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/marjorie-taylor-greene-gazpacho-police-response_n_6207756de4b083bd1cbef09a |first1=Lee |last1=Moran |website=HuffPost |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202023640/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/marjorie-taylor-greene-gazpacho-police-response_n_6207756de4b083bd1cbef09a |archive-date= Dec 2, 2023 }} (Gestapo), and "fragrantly violated"{{Cite web |last=Fletcher |first=Harry |date=Jun 10, 2022 |title=Marjorie Taylor Greene's latest blunder might be the funniest yet |url=https://www.indy100.com/viral/marjorie-taylor-greene-blunder |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240215003116/https://www.indy100.com/viral/marjorie-taylor-greene-blunder |archive-date=Feb 15, 2024 |website=indy100 |quote=Rather than saying rights had been 'flagrantly violated, Greene instead said 'fragrant'. "…and why their due process rights are being so fragrantly and horrifically violated," she says in a clip, which has been shared far and wide on social media.}} (flagrantly), among others.

• During the lead-up to the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker was mocked online after stating "this erection is about the people" (election), during an interview on Fox News.{{cite web | url=https://www.newsweek.com/herschel-walkers-erection-remark-spark-torrent-memes-jokes-1761658 |first1= James |last1=Bickerton | title=Herschel Walker's 'erection' remark sparks torrent of memes, jokes | website=Newsweek | date=23 November 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230421092106/https://www.newsweek.com/herschel-walkers-erection-remark-spark-torrent-memes-jokes-1761658 |archive-date= Apr 21, 2023}}

• In September 2024, at the Labour Party Conference, Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for "the return of the sausages" when talking about the Israeli hostages held in Gaza.{{cite web | url=https://news.sky.com/video/prime-minister-sir-keir-starmer-calls-for-return-of-the-sausages-in-gaza-13221266 | title=Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calls for 'return of the sausages' in Gaza }}{{cite web | url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/uks-starmer-calls-for-return-of-the-sausages-instead-of-hostages-in-speech-gaffe/ | title=UK's Starmer calls for 'return of the sausages' instead of hostages in speech gaffe | website=The Times of Israel }}
• Ford Motor Company executive Mike O'Brien kept a list of malapropisms he heard while working at the company, such as "let’s not reinvent the ocean", "read between the tea leaves", "I know it like the back of my head", and "he’s going to be so happy he’ll be like a canary in a coal mine!"{{Cite web |last=Colias |first=Mike |title=The Ford Executive Who Kept Score of Colleagues’ Verbal Flubs |url=https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/ford-motor-mike-obrien-malaprops-6e560520 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=WSJ |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Peralta |first=Eyder |title=A retired executive shares 10 years' worth of his colleagues' verbal gaffes |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/03/30/nx-s1-5342543/a-retired-executive-shares-10-years-worth-of-his-colleagues-verbal-gaffes |access-date=2025-04-23 |work=NPR |language=en}}

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

• Anti-proverb
• Bushism
• Catachresis
• Chernomyrdinka
• Colemanballs
• Dundrearyism
• Error (linguistics)
• Freudian slip
• Goldwynisms
• Homonym
• Johnny Dangerously
• Mondegreen
• Mumpsimus
• Nearest and Dearest
• Norm Crosby
• Spoonerism
• Trailer Park Boys

{{Div col end}}

• Leo Gorcey

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