Definition:
Absurd or humorous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound.
Etymology:
From the character of Mrs. Malaprop in Richard Sheridan's play The Rivals (1775). One of her noteworthy similes is "as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile."Examples and Observations:
- "A malapropism does not have to be amusing or surprising. It does not have to be based on a cliche and of course it does not have to be intentional. There need be no play on words, no hint of deliberate pun."
(Donald Davidson, "A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs," in Philosophical Grounds of Rationality, ed. R. Grandy and R. Warner, 1986) - "Why, murder's the matter! slaughter's the matter! killing's the matter! But he can tell you the perpendiculars."
(Mrs. Malaprop in Richard Sheridan's The Rivals) - "He is the very pineapple of politeness."
(Mrs. Malaprop in Richard Sheridan's The Rivals) - "A witness shall not bear falsies against thy neighbor."
(Archie Bunker in All in the Family) - "groin-acologist" for "gynecologist"
(Archie Bunker in All in the Family) - "Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child."
(Dan Quayle) - "Why not? Play captains against each other, create a little dysentery in the ranks."
(Christopher Moltisanti in The Sopranos) - "That's another thing. I don't want to hear anymore how it was in your day. From now on, keep your antidotes to local color, like Dynoflow or the McGuire Sisters."
(Tony Soprano to "Feech" La Manna in The Sopranos) - "However, they delineate--quotas, I think, vulcanize society."
(George W. Bush) - "Oftentimes, we live in a processed world, you know, people focus on the process and not results."
(George W. Bush)
Pronunciation: MAL-i-prop-izm
