a tendency towards malapropism...
A quote from a book: “He had a tendency towards malapropism so extreme…”
Webster online’s definition of malapropism:
“the usually unintentionally humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase; especially : the use of a word sounding somewhat like the one intended but ludicrously wrong in the context”.
I understand perfectly well the definition, but here’s a following example:
<he always said "polo bears" and "Remember Pearl Island" and "neon stockings">
Where’s a malapropism in "Remember Pearl Island"?
It should probably be "Remember Pearl Harbor".
Yes, I've been thinking the same. But it's not "the use of a word sounding somewhat like the one intended", it's nothing common btw how the words Island and Harbor sound.
But it IS an "unintentionally humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase." Pearl Harbor is located on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. The guy confused the harbor for the entire island.
Mrs Malaprop was a character in
Mrs Malaprop was a character in the comedy play "The Rivals" by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816). She was continually misusing a word, quite unintentionally, and confusing it with another which sounded similar but with an entirely different meaning. Like: "she is suffering from a contiguous disease" or "she seems always to be under the affluence of alcohol".
These became known as malapropisms, in much the same was that the highly eccentric but notable English cleric W A Spooner gave bith to the spoonerism, as in "You have deliberately tasted two worms and I insist that you leave Oxford by the town drain", instead of: "You have deliberately wasted two terms and I insist that you leave Oxford by the down train".
Very sorry about that...one of my colleagues was messing about with my keyboard while I was taking a call. he's not going to live much longer! hee hee :-)
so, Damian - are you agree with Crane about malapropism of the "Remember Pearl Island"?
Two of my favourite malapropisms were said by my aunt. They were "turtle's funeral" for "pauper's funeral" (pauper became porpoise which somehow became turtle) and "premeditated text" for "predictive text".
I forgot to add: there are a group of islands off the coast of Panama called The Pearl Islands. I'm sure that also factored into the man's confusion.
***so, Damian - are you agree with Crane about malapropism of the "Remember Pearl Island"?***
Well, not really, j - it's not a true malapropism, as "island" and "harbour - ok, "harbor" then seeing as it's Pearl Harbor - are not closely related pronunciation wise. People generally use the wrong word when it's very similar in sound but totally different in meaning. That's a malapropism in the way Sheridan intended his wacky old bird Mrs Malaprop to use.
Damian in Edinburgh : « Mrs Malaprop was a character in the comedy play "The Rivals" by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816). She was continually misusing a word, quite unintentionally, (..) ».
Oui, mais à la base c'est un emprunt à Fr <mal à propos>.
A favourite of mine I once heard uttered by a mother to her son went something along the lines of "If any of your friends brings one ounce of that stuff into this house, ..." she was talking about cannabis.
2Crane:
Seems you’re right about “Remember Pearl Island.” I sent a question to Merriam-Webster where I took my example from and got their answer:
‘Actually, the person who suggested that the phrase "remember Pearl Island" was being confused for "remember Pearl Harbor" is correct. The definition says "ESPECIALLY the use of a word sounding somewhat like the one intended but ludicrously wrong in the context," and (although this is pretty hair-splitting for non-dictionary people) that "especially" means that that's only one special case.
In other words, although the substitution of one word that's like another is a specific and fairly common type of malapropism, it's perfectly possible to have a malapropism that consists only of a misused or distorted phrase in which the words do not actually sound much alike. That's what this was an example of, and I apologize for the confusion. I hope this helps.’