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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
solecism
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ She commits a lot of solecisms.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Solecism

Solecism \Sol"e*cism\, n.[F. sol['e]cisme, L. soloecismus, Gr. soloikismo`s, fr. soloiki`zein to speak or write incorrectly, fr. so`loikos speaking incorrectly, from the corruption of the Attic dialect among the Athenian colonists of So`loi in Cilicia.]

  1. An impropriety or incongruity of language in the combination of words or parts of a sentence; esp., deviation from the idiom of a language or from the rules of syntax.

    A barbarism may be in one word; a solecism must be of more.
    --Johnson.

  2. Any inconsistency, unfitness, absurdity, or impropriety, as in deeds or manners.

    C[ae]sar, by dismissing his guards and retaining his power, committed a dangerous solecism in politics.
    --C. Middleton.

    The idea of having committed the slightest solecism in politeness was agony to him.
    --Sir W. Scott.

    Syn: Barbarism; impropriety; absurdity.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
solecism

"gross grammatical error;" loosely "any absurdity or incongruity," 1570s, from Middle French solécisme (16c.), from Latin soloecismus "mistake in speaking or writing," from Greek soloikismos "to speak (Greek) incorrectly," from soloikos "ungrammatical utterance," properly "a speaking like the people of Soloi," an Athenian colony in Cilicia (modern Mezitli in Turkey), whose dialect the Athenians considered barbarous. Related: Solecistic.

Wiktionary
solecism

n. 1 Erroneous or improper usage; absurdity. 2 (context grammar English) Error in the use of language. 3 In written language, the intentional use of misspelling and/or incorrect grammar to effect the vernacular of a particular dialect. 4 A faux pas or breach of etiquette; a transgression against the norms of expected behavior.

WordNet
solecism

n. a socially awkward or tactless act [syn: faux pas, gaffe, slip, gaucherie]

Wikipedia
Solecism

In traditional grammar, a solecism is a phrase that transgresses the rules of grammar. The word originally was used by the Greeks for what they perceived as grammatical mistakes in their language. Ancient Athenians considered the dialect of the inhabitants of their colony, Soli, in Cilicia to be a corrupted form of their own pure Attic dialect, and labelled the errors in the form as "solecisms" ( Greek: σολοικισμοί, soloikismoí; sing.: σολοικισμός, soloikismós). Therefore, when referring to similar grammatical mistakes heard in the speech of Athenians, they described them as "solecisms" and that term has been adopted as a label for grammatical mistakes in any language; in Greek there is often a distinction in the relevant terms in that a grammatical mistake or a mistake in the use of words is called a barbarism ( barbarismos), whereas solecism refers to mistakes in syntax, in the construction of sentences.

Usage examples of "solecism".

On the insistence of Opiz, Casanova continued his correspondence, but he passed over nothing more, neither in exact quotations from Latin authors, nor solecisms, nor lame reasonings.

Plume reappeared alone, went straight to his home, and slammed the door behind him, a solecism rarely known at Sandy, and presently on the hot and pulseless air there arose the sound of shrill protestation in strange vernacular.

On the insistence of Opiz, Casanova continued his correspondence, but he passed over nothing more, neither in exact quotations from Latin authors, nor solecisms, nor lame reasonings.

Consciousness skips a beat, and mental space is instantly renovated, angles and edges begin to develop padding, thoughts wander off from the party to find themselves in dead-end corridors and musty rooms with no doors, popping peanuts one by one into their toothless mouths, muttering solecisms to the lifelike forms on the wallpaper.

Then you must change one of them or wait till another time to play, for in England to pay in gold is a solecism only pardonable in a stranger.

I answered so badly all the questions propounded in Latin by the examiner, I made so many solecisms, that he felt it his duty to send me to an inferior class of grammar, in which, to my great delight, I found myself the companion of some twenty young urchins of about ten years, who, hearing that I was doctor in divinity, kept on saying: 'Accipiamus pecuniam, et mittamus asinum in patriam suam'.