Many writers and, especially speakers, appear to ignore the rules of grammar. For example, too many well "educated" speakers have been heard to say something like, "Everyone should do their best to improve themselves." If you do not see anything wrong with this statement, then you are an active candidate for deportation to the Land of Malapropists.
Malapropism is derived 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", where she actually intended to use alligator but ended with allegory. It is an absurd or humorous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound.
Conscious of her lack of education, Mrs. Malaprop listens to conversations attentively and pronounces with perfection quite learned words but, she for ever uses them in wrong places. While referring to a young man, she says, "He is the very pineapple of politeness" where pinnacle should have been used. She would talk with aplomb of contagious (instead of contiguous) countries and supercilious (in place of superficial) knowledge. She cries "O mercy! I'm quite analyzed, for my part!" when she really intends to say that she is amazed. Her other malapropos are: "Illiterate him, I say, quite from your memory" but what she intended to mean was to Obliterate; "My affluence over my niece is very small" it was about her influence that she rues.
Malapropisms were by no means new in 1775 when The Rivals was written. William Shakespeare used Malapropisms in Much Ado about Nothing - these devices were originally referred to as Dogberries, named after Dogberry a character in the drama. If Dogberry were alive and breathing post 1775, he would chasten all those trying to compare him with Mrs. Malaprop and would've reiterated "Comparisons are odorous" as he considers comparisons to be odious. He would have cussed and cursed "O villain! thou wilt be condemned into everlasting redemption (in place of perdition)".
So was Fielding's Mrs. Slipslop in Joseph Andrews a malapropist. Malapropisms are a feature of everyday life and people continue to produce endearing James (gems).
Medical conditions have caused bizarre afflictions like Hysterical rectums (hysterectomy), Cysterian childbirths (Caesarean childbirths), Midwife crises (midlife crises) for middle-aged men. Malapropisms occur naturally and are quite funny.
Here are few more to tickle you:
- Languish (lavish) praises on someone
- Die interstate (intestate)
- The watch words of French Revolution were Liberty, Equality and Maternity (Fraternity)
- Henry VIII had an abbess (abscess) on his knees which made walking difficult
- Condone (condole) someone's death
- I can assert the truth of it, without fear of contraception (contradiction)
- If you swallow poison, you should take an anecdote (antidote)
In linguistics, an eggcorn is an idiosyncratic substitution of a word or phrase for a word or words that sound similar or identical in the speaker's dialect. The new phrase introduces a meaning that is different from the original, but plausible in the same context. This is as opposed to a malapropism, where the substitution creates a nonsensical phrase. Classical malapropisms generally derive their comic effect from the fault of the user, while eggcorns are errors that exhibit creativity or logic. Eggcorns often involve replacing an unfamiliar, archaic, or obscure word with a more common or modern word ("baited breath" for "bated breath"). (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn).
Examples for Eggcorns are:
- Create a little dysentery among the ranks (dissent)
- Don't get historical! (hysterical)
- Good Moaning (i.e., Good morning)
- A vast suppository of information (repository)
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