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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007original term for malapropism
The first OED citation of "malapropism" is from 1830 and the term comes from the character in Sheridan's 1775 play The Rivals. What word would Sheridan have used to decribe this type of mistake? Also, seeing that there were several malaproprian characters in Shakespeare's play, what word would have ben used for "malapropism" in the 16th century? > The first OED citation of "malapropism" is from 1830 and the term > comes from the character in Sheridan's 1775 play The Rivals. What word > would Sheridan have used to decribe this type of mistake? Also, seeing > that there were several malaproprian characters in Shakespeare's play, > what word would have ben used for "malapropism" in the 16th century? I suspect the answer (to both questions) is "none". If someone had wanted to refe to the idea before the word existed they'd have had to use several words to say what they meant. We don't have a separate word for every idea that we might want to express (even quite important ideas like "suicidality") but if the need is strongly enough felt it tends to get satisfied. athel > > The first OED citation of "malapropism" is from 1830 and the term > > comes from the character in Sheridan's 1775 play The Rivals. What word [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > athel 'Misstatement' is the nearest that I can think of. Richard Lichten On Jan 30, 1:41?pm, "Turenne" <richard.licht...@virgin.net> > 'Misstatement' is the nearest that I can think of. "Misoverestimation" is more Zeitgeisty. Arcadian Rises filted: >On Jan 30, 1:41?pm, "Turenne" <richard.licht...@virgin.net> > >> 'Misstatement' is the nearest that I can think of. > >"Misoverestimation" is more Zeitgeisty. Got a memo on Monday that asked me to speak up if the writer had "misunderstood anything incorrectly"....r  Signature"You got Schadenfreude on my Weltanschauung!" "You got Weltanschauung in my Schadenfreude!" > The first OED citation of "malapropism" is from 1830 and the term > comes from the character in Sheridan's 1775 play The Rivals. What word > would Sheridan have used to decribe this type of mistake? What he called it, as I recall, was: the way his father spoke. His father's odd mannerisms inspired Sheridan's character of Mrs. Malaprop. The ARTFL site shows that "mal à propos" was a French phrase by 1694, meaning, loosely, "inappropriate." You asking us the name of something before it was named. A leetle contradictory. What were horseshoe crabs called before there were horses? > Also, seeing > that there were several malaproprian characters in Shakespeare's play, > what word would have ben used for "malapropism" in the 16th century? "That errs in ignorance and not in cunning"? (Othello) I don't think Bill and his pals needed a term for it while they were drinking in the taverns. We certainly don't have his notes, diaries, etc., to check. Is there much contemporary criticism available from that era? Wasn't it a century or two later that people wrote essays about Shakespeare? Do you agree that there must be kinds of jokes that exist *now* but that we don't happen to have *names* for, although maybe in fifty years we will? SignatureBest -- Donna Richoux I don''t totally agree with you Donna. After all, there were, and are, other terms for spoonerism before we were graced with the good Rev Spooner. e.g., metatheses, hypallage and hysteron proteron. best-Retro > > The first OED citation of "malapropism" is from 1830 and the term > > comes from the character in Sheridan's 1775 play The Rivals. What word [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > -- > Best -- Donna Richoux [reordered to avoid hysteron proteron] > > > The first OED citation of "malapropism" is from 1830 and the term > > > comes from the character in Sheridan's 1775 play The Rivals. What word > > > would Sheridan have used to decribe this type of mistake? ... > > You asking us the name of something before it was named. A leetle > > contradictory. What were horseshoe crabs called before there were > > horses? ... > > I don't think Bill and his pals needed a term for it while they were > > drinking in the taverns. We certainly don't have his notes, diaries, [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > we don't happen to have *names* for, although maybe in fifty years we > > will? > I don''t totally agree with you Donna. After all, there were, and are, > other terms for spoonerism before we were graced with the good Rev > Spooner. e.g., metatheses, hypallage and hysteron proteron. > best-Retro Those classical terms reminded me. How about "catachresis"? -- Jerry Friedman On Jan 30, 4:27 pm, "jerry_fried...@yahoo.com" <jerry_fried...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Those classical terms reminded me. How about "catachresis"? [snip] That's grate :) OED2 has "catachresis" dating back to the Bard's time; excerpt: Improper use of words; application of a term to a thing which it does not properly denote; abuse or perversion of a trope or metaphor. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie (Arb.) 190 marg., Catachresis or the Figure of abuse. 1605 J. Dove Confut. Atheism 81 The three famous Lakes..which are commonly by the figure catachresis called seas. ... [end excerpt] The difference between a "malapropism" and a "catachresis" would seem to the ludicrous quality of the former, while the latter can apply to both ludicrous and unremarkable utterances. Aloha ~~~ Ozzie Maland ~~~ San Diego >> The first OED citation of "malapropism" is from 1830 and the term >> comes from the character in Sheridan's 1775 play The Rivals. What [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > The ARTFL site shows that "mal à propos" was a French phrase by 1694, > meaning, loosely, "inappropriate." OED has Dryden using it in 1668 "They do it not so unseasonably, or mal a propos as we." It subsequently finds itself squeezed into a single word and becomes an adjective and a noun. SignatureJohn Dean Oxford |
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