Malapropism

      Malapropism is that type of solecism (the conspicuous and unintended violation of standard diction or grammar) which mistakenly uses a word in place of another that it resembles; the effect is usually comic. The term derives from Mrs. Malaprop, after the French 'mal a propos' or 'inappropriately', in Sheridan's comedy The Rivals, who in the attempt to display a copious vocabulary said things such as "a nice derangement of epitaphs", a malapropism for "a nice arrangement of epithets"; "a progeny of learning", for "a prodigy of learning"; "as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile", for 'allegory' is used in place of 'alligator'; and "he is the very pineapple of politeness", for 'pineapple' is used in place of 'pinnacle'. Fowler has described Mrs. Malaprop's character as the matron saint of all those who go word-fowling with a blunderbuss. Such word confusion was a familiar stage-trick in the time of Shakespeare and is to still. In Much Ado About Nothing, Dogberry with his "most senseless and fit man for the constable of the watch" and "to talk is most tolerable and not to be endured"; In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Bottom with his "there we may rehearse more obscenely and courageously" and In The Merchant of Venice, Old Gobbo with his "that is the very defect of the matter, sir" are some of the exponents of the art of malapropism. But the essence of malapropism, whether those of Mrs. Malaprop or those of Dogberry, Bottom and Gobbo, is an exaggeration of ignorance that leads to the ridiculous.