Talk:Malapropism

Cleaning up the examples
Per Wikipedia's Manual of Style, "Articles are intended to consist primarily of prose, though they may contain lists." Articles written in prose style, as this one is, can include a list of examples to help illustrate a point, but such lists should be discriminate, well-defined, and reasonably short.

I am reducing the number of examples on this list to make it useful and illustrative. As with everything on Wikipedia, other editors may disagree with my choices and are free to change the page, for example substituting other examples or even adding more. It is also possible that the long list of examples could be spun out into a stand-alone list in a separate article (subject to Wikipedia's policies on notability, verifiability, etc.). Any editor making such changes is kindly asked to explain her or his choices on this talk page, or at least in edit summaries. Thanks, Cnilep (talk) 00:50, 7 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Australian PM Tony Abbott's "suppository of wisdom" quote is probably a better known example than the New Scientist one. I'm amazed there's no mention of George Dubya Bush, he was a walking one-man suppository of wisdom.Gymnophoria (talk) 16:35, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Cross-linguistic malapropism
Currently the section "Cross-linguistic Malapropisms" describes two loan words. Russian rynda "ship's bell" apparently comes from English ring the bell; Korean hwaiting! comes from English fighting. I don't think that either of these are actually malapropisms, though.

Neither of the sources cited for hwaiting! describes it as a malaprop. The Transparent Language blog (which, by the way, does not appear to be an entirely reliable source) says that the word came to Korean from English via Japanese, and that it is difficult to translate into English since it does not mean fighting. The other source is a bilingual dictionary that gives the word's meaning. There is no mention of malapropism in either.

The sources for rynda are written in Russian and German. Neither mentions malapropism (at least according to Google Books), but that is not surprising as they are not written in English.

So far there is no reliable source saying that cross-linguistic malapropism is a recognized category of speech error or joke. Cnilep (talk) 03:07, 11 October 2012 (UTC)

Nuclear vs. Nuculer
The example of "nuclear" vs. "nuculer" isn't a real malapropism; it's just a mispronunciation/alternate pronunciation, depending on which dictionary you're looking at. Either way, "nuculer" isn't a word on its own, so it doesn't fit the definition. Writ Keeper &#9863;&#9812; 21:40, 13 November 2012 (UTC)
 * It's actually more of a dialect word (possibly in Southern American English), but yes, still not a malapropism. You need two (different) words for a malapropism.--Auric (talk) 22:43, 13 November 2012 (UTC)
 * The other example added by the same editor is "truthiness": again, I'd disagree as an example of malapropism, since it's just a variation of "truth" rather than a misused word or combination of words. I suppose "wikiality" could count, though, if "groinecologist" does. Writ Keeper &#9863;&#9812; 22:46, 13 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Truthiness is a word created by Stephen Colbert. As the article says, "Simply making up a word does not qualify as a malapropism, but a neologism." Arguably, groinecologist does not meet the definition of malapropism on this page, either; it was created by the writers of All in the Family. The cited source, however, refers to this sort of word as "Archie's malapropisms" (e.g. p. 482). Paul Escholz and Alfred Rosa (1972) used the label Bunkerism to describe malapropisms-via-blending by Archie Bunker. This term seems not to have caught on very strongly (and I no longer have my old copy of the article), though a Google Book search for Bunkerism Escholz Rosa does find a dozen or more books citing or referring to the original article, a few of them by Rosa and/or Escholz. Cnilep (talk) 01:34, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

Bunkerisms and Malapropisms
A section of this article was recently re-written explaining why the word groinicology is not a malapropism. The explanation, however, does not cite any reliable sources. It refers to this article with a parenthetical (see above), but unfortunately the definition of a malapropism in the article does not cite any independent sources, either.

Furthermore, the article that is cited in this section actually says, "Archie's malapropisms have as their end-term not the endless rebuilding of sameness within change on a paronomastic ground but the complete undifferentiation [sic] that he dreads" (Shapiro & Shapiro 2005, 482; emphasis added). The authors are not talking about the word groinicology, but they do call Bunker's characteristic speech errors malapropisms.

As noted above, Rosa and Escholz (1972) called this sort of blend a Bunkerism in their analysis of All in the Family. As I said before, I no longer have my copy of Rosa and Escholz 1972, but I find for instance this book via Google Books that conflates the two terms: "Alfred Rosa and Paul Escholz list the many malapropisms (Bunkerisms) that Archie Bunker used in that series" (Goldstein 2001, 69).

Let's try to cite some actual sources on this issue, rather than rewriting the article based on our own understandings or unreliable sources. Cnilep (talk) 04:01, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

Malapropism and irony
In seeking reliable sources for the assertion that intentional malapropism can be an example of irony, I have found a large number of texts that treat malapropism and irony, almost always along with other figures of speech (metaphor, tautology, Spoonerisms, etc.). Davidson (1986) also mentions irony, metaphor, and malapropisms as having similar relationships to truth. But none of the works I've consulted so far suggest that malapropism is essential to irony, nor irony to malapropism.

It strikes me that saying "malapropism can be an example of irony" is a bit like saying "words for precipitation can be examples of verbs". It's undeniably true – consider to rain, to snow, or to sleet – but is is also a somewhat trivial assertion.

In short, does it really deepen readers' understanding to read that malapropism as a figurative device can be used ironically? Cnilep (talk) 04:05, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

Ringo
If Ringo is known to have had his real-world malapropisms turned into song titles wouldn't it fit in real life examples as Ringo is not fictitious character? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.47.70.89 (talk) 00:46, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

How can either of the two examples given be considered malapropisms? If others agree with me, perhaps this section should be removed.

216.36.132.66 (talk) 19:30, 17 October 2014 (UTC)

See this discussion from 2007 on whether or not these are malapropisms: User_talk:Grutness/archive24 Adrian Robson (talk) 20:30, 1 August 2015 (UTC)

Has there ever been research into the causes?
Can't help wondering if there are reasons why some people are more prone to Malapropism than others, and if there has ever been research carried out. One can speculate as to possible causes - perhaps just the subtle differences between individuals as to how each person's brain is wired. Or does illness or injury have an effect? Or poor hearing? Is a more hyped-up personality more prone to errors due to trying to do things too quickly? Would be interested to know if anyone has done research on any of this. Could someone with knowledge about this perhaps add a paragraph about it to the article? Tesseract72 (talk) 12:30, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

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In most cases, it is due to ignorance and/or laziness. Just look at the most recent generation to see this is true, as it is one of the defining characteristics of the latest generation. They either don't know which word is correct to use (ignorance), or, they don't know how to spell the other word (ignorance), or, they are too lazy to type/write a few extra letters and such (like when they type "your" in place of "you're"). A poor education system can be blamed for the ignorance, but not for the laziness. And, sadly, many of those who are ignorant and/or lazy continue to be so with typed/written words their whole lives.

Thibeinn (talk) 22:07, 31 October 2020 (UTC)

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The Word's Origin
In the introductory section it reads: "The word "malapropism" comes from the French "mal à propos" meaning "inappropriate", and was personified by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in his comedy The Rivals (1775) as "Mrs. Malaprop", a character who habitually misused her words."

In the very next section, "Etymology," it reads: "The word "malapropism" (and its earlier variant, "malaprop") comes from a character named "Mrs. Malaprop" in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 1775 play The Rivals who frequently misspeaks."

So, which is the chicken and which is the egg? 67.188.155.197 (talk) 08:49, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

Removing suppositories
This example was added on 4 May 2014 by an anonymous user at IP 110.20.18.81; formatting was repaired by User:TheNervousOne.
 * The then-Australian Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, made a similar gaffe addressing a a Melbourne gathering of Liberal Party faithful in 2013, telling the audience that "no one, however smart, however well educated, however experienced, is the suppository of all wisdom".

I removed the same Tony Abbott quote on 28 March 2014 because another paragraph in the article describes a similar substitution of suppository for repository. The older example also includes the malapropism Miss Marple-ism for malapropism.

I'm not sure whether these contributors didn't see the other example, or they were just keen to add a Tony Abbott gaffe. I think it's unnecessary to have two nearly identical examples. Cnilep (talk) 01:49, 5 May 2014 (UTC)

Yes I was keen to add a Tony Abbott gaffe - not simply because it's Tony Abbott but also because a PM making a gaffe somehow gives it more relevance, or at least interest. But yes no probs with your deletion. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Alpalfour (talk • contribs) 02:44, 19 October 2014 (UTC)

I remember seeing Norm Crosby on the Johnny Carson Show in maybe the mid-60's. Crosby, the "Master of Malaprop", at one point called himself a "vast suppository of knowledge". That's the one thing that stuck with me, and I occasionally use it in a self-deprecating way in conversations when embarrassed about being a walking encyclopedia. 8) Perhaps replace the reference with a bit about Norm Crosby? Mvsmith (talk) 19:11, 10 November 2016 (UTC)

Questionable Examples
From the paragraph on Rick Perry:

criticizing fellow presidential nominee Mitt Romney for the "heighth of hypocrisy" instead of "height of..."

This isn't a malapropism; that's just the way in which many people pronounce "height".

Similarly, the section on George Bush says,

"You helped our nation celebrate its bicentennial in 17-... in 1976," accidentally calling the Queen over two hundred years old.

Not only does that final clause seem rather childish and unnecessary, but I don't really see why this particular example is notable. A person started to get a number in the wrong order and corrected himself—this is a pretty common thing, I think. I think this example is about as much of a malapropism as saying, "I home went."

98.213.54.240 (talk) 13:29, 25 September 2015 (UTC)

Officer Crabtree
How can this article not make a mention of Crabtree from British sitcom 'Allo 'Allo? A better exponent of the malapropism there has never been! 130.220.181.41 (talk) 00:28, 7 July 2016 (UTC)

I would also respect to see Leo Gorcey (Terrence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney of "The Bowery Boys") mentioned here. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.124.116.101 (talk) 01:04, 5 February 2019 (UTC)

Why no etymology?
No etymology? In French malpropre meaning dirty. The right term would be "impropre" to say an "unsuitable" word. But I guess it's where it comes from. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.91.51.235 (talk) 12:13, 27 September 2019 (UTC)


 * The most common reason something doesn't exist on Wikipedia when it seems that it should is that nobody has written it yet. Please feel free to create an Etymology section. Reliable sourcing would be needed. HiLo48 (talk) 03:16, 12 December 2020 (UTC)


 * See the section Malapropism: the word comes from the name of a fictional character, Mrs. Malaprop. It is only indirectly related to French mal- "wrongly" and à propos "fitting; appropriate". Cnilep (talk) 06:39, 14 December 2020 (UTC)

Wikipedia all the way down?
Recently several citations were added, but I suspect some of these sources may actually have taken their information from earlier versions of this article. This seems like circular citation: Wikipedia citing published sources that use information from Wikipedia. As such, these are not really independent or useful to verify content. I will therefore remove the suspect sources. Cnilep (talk) 00:00, 2 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Sounds Good on Paper (Horberry 2010) says, "Using obtuse (wide or dull) instead of acute (narrow or sharp) is not a malapropism;".
 * The 2009 version of this article said, "Using obtuse (wide or dull) instead of acute (narrow or sharp) is not a malapropism;".
 * Literary Devices (2021) cites three "common malapropism examples": "The magazine New Scientist reports one of its employees calling his colleague 'a suppository (i.e. repository) of knowledge.'; "Richard J. Daley, the former mayor of Chicago, is said to have called a ' tandem bicycle' a 'tantrum bicycle,'"; and "Bertie Ahern, the former Irish Taoiseach, is said to have given a warning to his country against 'upsetting the apple tart (i.e., apple cart)" etc.
 * The 2020 version of this article includes all three examples, with strikingly similar (though not identical) prose, and similar use of italics.

Philosohper Donald Davidson paraphrase
"Philosopher Donald Davidson has said that malapropisms show the complex process through which the brain translates thoughts into language."

I dont think this adds much to the article, especially within the intro section Sirsnowy7 (talk) 02:27, 7 October 2021 (UTC)

Real Life Examples- Marjorie Taylor Greene
It is unclear if the currently listed examples regarding MTG are actual quotes from her speaking or examples of social media posts such as Tweets. If these are not direct speaking quotes, it is not a true malapropism. It should be considered as autocorrects or voice to text translations that were not proof read. I believe there is a difference between a malapropism and a “covfefe”. This is something for more experienced wiki editors to answer, but I wanted to raise the argument there may be issues with those examples as currently listed. 98.235.68.109 (talk) 03:33, 31 October 2022 (UTC)
 * If you check the references for each of the examples, they are things tyhat she has said, not things that were written. - Aoidh (talk) 03:38, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

Was Al Gore really cereal?
(without text) --2A02:908:898:9780:3086:702E:A30:C223 (talk) 03:00, 15 August 2023 (UTC)

"Brexit means breakfast" listed at Redirects for discussion
The redirect [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brexit_means_breakfast&redirect=no Brexit means breakfast] has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at  until a consensus is reached. GnocchiFan (talk) 22:50, 18 June 2024 (UTC)