Word of the Day: June 16, 2009 - malapropism

malapropism (mal-uh-prop-iz-uhm) - noun

Malapropism means "an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, esp. by the confusion of words that are similar in sound."

First used in the written form around 1840–1850. English owes the word malapropism to Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Richard Sheridan's play The Rivals (1775) whose pompous impulses led her to use slightly the wrong word: amongst the most familiar of her errors are "contagious countries" (for contiguous), "a supercilious knowledge in accounts" (for superficial), and "as head-strong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile." Sheridan based the name malapropos, meaning "inappropriate", an Anglicization of French mal a propos, literally meaning "badly to the purpose."