What is "malapropism"

malapropism \mal"a*prop*ism\, n. [From Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Sheridan's drama, `` The Rivals,'' who makes amusing blunders in her use of words. See Malapropos.] A grotesque misuse of a word; a word so used.

1826, from Mrs. Malaprop, character in Sheridan's play "The Rivals" (1775), noted for her ridiculous misuse of large words (such as "contagious countries" for "contiguous countries"), her name coined from malapropos.

n. 1 (context uncountable English) The blundering use of an absurdly inappropriate word or expression in place of a similar sounding one. 2 (context countable English) An instance of this; malaprop.

n. the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar [syn: malaprop]

A malapropism (also called a malaprop or Dogberryism) is the use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, often humorous utterance. An example is the statement by baseball player Yogi Berra, " Texas has a lot of electrical votes," rather than " electoral votes". Malapropisms also occur as errors in natural speech and are often the subject of media attention, especially when made by politicians or other prominent individuals. Philosopher Donald Davidson has noted that malapropisms show the complex process through which the brain translates thoughts into language.