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Malaprops? in Wordcraft?
August 22, 2002, 16:53
wordnerdMalaprops? in Wordcraft?
Seems to me it would be fun to have a thread of malaprops. This particular one might also go in the "dumber than ..." thread or in arnie's latin thread, but I'll use it here.
quote:
I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and the only regret I have was that I didn't study Latin harder in school so I could converse with those people.
-- former US Vice President Dan Quayle
August 22, 2002, 17:45
shufitzThat particular one may be an urban legend, though oft-reported, but there's no question that Quayle and many other politicans are rich sources of malaprops.
Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child. -- Dan Quayle
We shall reach greater and greater platitudes of achievement.-- the late Richard J. Daley, long-time mayor of my fair city
August 22, 2002, 23:05
arniequote:
I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and the only regret I have was that I didn't study Latin harder in school so I could converse with those people.
-- former US Vice President Dan Quayle
Actually, that particular Quayle "quote" was made up. Representative Claudine Schneider of Rhode Island, a
Republican congressperson, attributed it to him in a speech as a joke, but many papers took it as a true quote. See the
Urban Legends Reference Pages.
That site includes for good measure a number of real "Quaylisms", including:
- "If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."
- "I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future."
- "We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur."
- "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
August 23, 2002, 16:46
MorganOK, did anyone see "The Family Circus" cartoon in the newspaper yesterday, Aug. 22? Well, it was a very cute malaprop.
EDIT: See the pic below that Arnie so nicely put in for me! (Sorry, I still can't get the images to work right. This is posted on my home page. Any help, greatfully accepted!)
Edit: Oops!
Is this a mondegreen?
[This message was edited by Morgan on Sat Aug 24th, 2002 at 9:36.]
August 23, 2002, 20:40
MorganJust heard: "I generally jump to confusions"
August 23, 2002, 22:11
arnieHere ya go...
August 30, 2002, 19:16
AngelThese are a couple of letters that Dear Abby was at a total loss with:
Dear Abby,
A couple of women moved in across the hall from me. One is a
middle-aged gym teacher, and the other is a social worker in her
mid-twenties. These two women go everywhere together, and I've never
seen a man go into their apartment or come out. Do you think they could
be
Lebanese?
Dear Abby,
My mother is mean and short-tempered. Do you think she is going
through her
mental pause?
September 27, 2002, 09:11
KallehA common malapropism of Sam Goldwyn, the late film mogul, is: "Oral contracts aren't worth the paper they're written on"!
September 30, 2002, 12:10
MorganKalleh, that is great! I found some more about Goldwyn.
In the 1940s the movie mogul Sam Goldwyn misused language so much that malaprops became known as Goldwynisms.
- A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on.
- I read part of it all the way through.
- I never liked him and I probably always will.
- Every Tom, Dick and Harry is named William.
- For your information, I would like to ask a question.
- Now, gentlemen, listen slowly.
- In two words: im-possible!
- Include me out.
October 01, 2002, 02:19
Richard EnglishThe Goldwyn examples you cite are not, strictly speaking, malapropisms.
A malapropism (from the character Mrs Malaprop) is the use of one word in mistake for another.
For example, "Whisky is a good anecdote for snakebite" or "We'll have to wash them in a strong deterrent".
Richard English
October 01, 2002, 06:25
Hic et ubique>>"the Goldwyn examples you cite are not, strictly speaking, malapropisms"
Quite right. But what would you call them? The closest I can think of is
Irish Bull, but that doesn't seem to be a precise fit either.
October 01, 2002, 09:44
Richard EnglishWhy not just call them Goldwynisms?
Richard English
October 01, 2002, 13:05
museamuseIt sounds like Goldwyn had a form of dyslexia. I have a girlfriend who makes the exact same kind of mistakes. She mixes up her idioms and collocations and comes out with some hilarious phrases at times (they're in Greek so I won't list them). She has been diagnosed with a form of dyslexia. I will ask her if there is a name for it (but she'll probably get it wrong!).
amuseamouse
July 02, 2004, 19:38
Kalleh reviving a thread...I read about this commom malapropism on that
languagelog site I posted about in links for linguaphiles:
"Andrew Sullivan notes a NYT reader review of Fahrenheit 9/11 saying that the 'Bush Administration damns itself through its own actions, its own words, its own lies...all documented for prosperity.' This is a surprisingly common malapropism. Google has 21 instances of 'documented for prosperity', 8 instances of 'preserving * * for prosperity', etc., most of which seem to be sincere mistakes."