The character Mrs. Malaprop is a humorous aunt who gets mixed up in the schemes and dreams of young lovers in Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 1775 comedy-of-manners The Rivals. One of the funniest aspects of Mrs. Malaprop’s character is that she often uses an incorrect word to express herself. The popularity of the play and of the character led to the creation of the literary term malapropism, meaning the practice (whether by intent or by accident) of using an incorrect word that sounds similar to the appropriate word. Mrs. Malaprop’s name comes from the French term malapropos, meaning “inappropriate”
Malapropisms can tickle us and make the moment memorable with mirth.
Once my ‘country cousin’, not unsophisticated as the term may suggest, but a person who literally lived in the countryside, took me around his coconut garden and pointed at the water collected in his newly constructed water tank and mused, “Look… so clear, so pure, so clean… terrible.’ Obviously, the final word was meant to be ‘terrific’. But why did he end up saying terrible? What explanation can be offered for this malapropism? My conjecture takes me to another pair – horrible/horrific. Here, both the words have negative connotations. My cousin probably drew parallels and concluded that both terrible and terrific had positive connotations.
There could be other reasons as well for this type of linguistic error. It can occur when we confuse a word or a phrase with a similar-sounding one that has a completely different meaning. Malapropisms turn serious statements into funny ones, often without the speaker realizing it as in the case of Mrs. Malaprop who uses the word historical in the place of hysterical!
From literature to real life. Internet gives us plenty of examples:
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott once stated that no one “is the suppository of all wisdom” instead of saying repository or depository.
Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley incorrectly referred to Alcoholics Anonymous as Alcoholics Unanimous.
From Australia and Chicago to Namma Kudla. I once heard a lady remarking to another in a cloth shop, “Aiyyo, you look so separate…” After my initial shock, I recovered to realize that it was a direct translation from Kannada to say that the other person looked different!
In literature, malapropism is used as a device to create humour. But the same cannot be concluded about real life situations wherein malapropisms are bloopers which should be avoided.
I will byheart the meaning of all the words to avoid malapropism. ☹️
I will memorize the meaning of all the words to avoid malapropism. / I will learn the meaning of all the words byheart to avoid malapropism. ????
