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 her character is that she often uses the incorrect word to express herself, thus coining the literary term malapropism.
Malapropism is the practice (whether by intent or by accident) of using an incorrect word that sounds similar to the appropriate word. For example, when I was a kid, I often used this malapropism: "I hope I at least win the constellation prize." (Instead of "consolation" prize.)
To make their characters look foolish, authors and playwrights sometimes utilize malapropism, and that's what Sheridan does with Mrs. Malaprop. Here are a few examples of the ol' gal as she butchers the English language:
Do you have a favorite malapropism? Leave a comment and share!"We will not anticipate the past, our retrospection will now be all to the future."
"The pineapple of politeness" (Instead of "pinnacle of politeness.")
"She's as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile" (Instead of "alligator on the banks of the Nile.")
Comments
‘I saw an emancipated (emaciated) dog on the beach’
My father has his full facilities (faculties) and he’s over 90 years old’.
Thanks for playing, Heather!
I’ve been looking all over the Internet for this name as part of a puzzle I’ve been working on. Here’s the clue that was given:
She’d call an illegitimate son the bastion of the family!
The best I ever heard was at the post office, where the clerk – after finally realizing what I needed to do and how we could accomplish that – said, “Well, next time we won’t have to go through all this rigor mortis” (when she meant rigamarole).
That is one of the best malaprops I’ve ever heard! Thanks, Gail.
Some years ago I had a discussion board criticizing the Legion of Christ’s fundraising program and created a character like Mrs Malaprop and called her “Bene Factress” – and wrote in her character. Some readers thought this matron was a real person…
Mrs Malaprop prided herself on being a confounder of this religious order and was always very keen on defending the padres’ peekadilloes…
This particular Mrs Malaprop was studying Spanish and occasionally pronounced bilingual malaprops along the lines of the great Mexican comedian “Cantinflas”
BENE HERE AGAIN
after a long hiatsu -I want to be culturally sensitive to the Oriental people-
and forgive me for misspeling the Cardinal’s name
but I was told by a Galician friend -remember St. Pauls First Letter to the Galicians which my Jesuit friend explained to me is one of St.Paul’s greatest as it speaks about the gifts of the Spirit
One of the best ever Spanglish malapropisms came from a lady who used to care for our kids when they were young. We would phone to ask how Nathalia, our baby daughter was, and would often get the reply that she was in “los brazos de amor feo” (Morpheus in Spanish is Morfeo)
Just a few of my favorite malapropisms:
Movie mogul Sam Goldwyn introduced the British military leader of World War II at a fundraising banquet as “Field Marshal Montgomery Ward.”
“One man’s meat is another man’s poisson.”
The obseqious vicar in “Pride and Predjudice” who praises his aristocratic patron for her “condescension” of him.
The late Gore Vidal’s retort to gay activists who accused him of ignoring the gay rights movement: “Let them eat cock!”
I don’t know if this technically counts as a malapropism, but former Vice President Dan Quayle, after a return from south of the border, expressed surprise to learn that people don’t speak Latin in Latin America.
Or George W. Bush’s mangled rephrasing of the famous anti-drug TV commercial: “It’s a terrible thing to lose your mind.”
Frank Sanello
I used to work in recruitment advertising and copywriters would sometimes mistakenly write, “Salary commiserate with experience” instead of “commensurate”, although for most jobs the first one proves true. Of course, I also had a Seattle client who once offered as an employee bonus a “fairy pass.”
I worked with a guy who had four malapropisms. I can only remember two: Cylinder Block for cinder block; Card Face for poker face.
my mother in law came running back up the beach from paddling in the Med, screeching, saying “aghhh, a jellyfish just came up and wrapped its testicles around me”.
an old friend of my father’s used to say that his dog was a wirewool terrier.
My grandfather was full of, often hysterical, malapropisims. My favorites were:
We stayed in a condom (condominium) when we went to the beach.
I’ve been getting migrating (migraine) headaches.
I believe I was called to be a confounder of the Legion of Christ Religious Order and and wrote wrote a satyr about my experiences.