Malapropism – The usually unintentionally humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase; the use of a word sounding somewhat like the one intended but ludicrously wrong in context.
Proroguing – To discontinue a session (of parliament, for example). To postpone; defer.
Provenance – Place of origin, derivation. Proof of authenticity or of past ownership. Used of art works and antiques.
Ululate – to howl, wail, or lament loudly
Vamp - A woman who uses her sex appeal to entrap and exploit men;Also, verb – To practice seductive wiles on…;The upper part of a boot or shoe covering the instep and sometimes extending over the toe ; Something patched up or refurbished; A short introductory musical passage often repeated several times before a solo or between verses. Often an improvised accompaniment; To invent, fabricate, improvise
Great Words! I had a particularly difficult time selecting this week’s Word of the Week; they were all great finds! Also, props to Greg for using his word in a sentence! As it had to be, this difficult decision has been made, and the outcome is immutable.
This week’s Word of the Week is:
Malapropism
- This word is derived from the French "mal a propose" meaning "ill to purpose," and further from the English word, "malapropos," meaning "inappropriately"
- The term itself comes from the character, Mrs. Malaprop who was noted for her misuse of words, in R.B. Sheridan's 1775 comedy The Rivals. An example of Mrs. Malaprop’s malapropisms: "He is the very pineapple of politeness" (she meant "pinnacle").
- The professor’s constant malapropisms caused snickering among the students who placed word usage in high regard.
12 comments:
I win again!!!!
I sense this is going to cause some friction in the fishell (nishfrog? nog?) household.
Wow, BIG wordz lol ;-) PEACE
malaprops I find, for the most part, utterly charming. While others may begin to loudly expound on such grammatical flaws (I'm thinking of a notable non-blogger here), there's something sweet about using words in a slightly off-kilter manner. It's unique. Anybody can be right about language, few use it with charm.
I think the word box may make malapropisms more likely. We're learning new words that we could use incorrectly.
I guess I'm just a pessimist.
warm fuzzy is vamping my husband... I know where you live.
whao! I am flabbergasted! The provenance of the word was just too cool to ignore.
I think it needs reminding that it was Scarlet Panda who hand fed him the word "luddite" last week, and who so quickly suggested that this week's outcome would cause problems in the Nog Household....perhaps she is the vamp here. I'm just saying....
Just for the record I would like to apologize for my slander upon warm fuzzy's good name. I should have directed my outburst at my husband where it belonged. I have inside information that he not only knew what malapropism meant, but chose it specifically for its interesting provenance. He's a no good cheater and should be banned from the game.
P.S. I know where you live too, Scarlet Panda...
Look, everyone's using provenance now. How did it not win? Methinks the judge is biased against those who disagree with her over starvation in Africa.
This news is quite disturbing. Quite disturbing.
While it's not necessarily out of bounds to know the meaning of a word prior to submitting it to the word box, it does seem kinda sleazy to both know what the word means and that it has awesome orgins. If I had known this before I made my word of the week announcement I would have pororgued my decison at least until fishfrog could defend himself or substantive proof could be aquired. As it is, we are just left to ululate in frustration while hoping such trickery never threatens the Word Box again.
I am sure fishfrog meant no harm, so he and the word stand.
The words choose me, Greg. They choose me.
In my defense, I am addicted to winning.
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