Language abuse: malapropism

Mrs. Malaprop was a character in 1775 comedy by Richard Sheridan who misused words in a way that created unintentional humor.  From her, we get the word “malapropism”, a particularly enjoyable type of humor.

Malapropism:

: the usually unintentionally humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase; especially : the use of a word sounding somewhat like the one intended but ludicrously wrong in the context

• “Jesus healing those leopards” is an example of malapropism.

One of my favorite books of comedy, Richard Lederer’s Anguished English, has a number of examples, a few of which I’m sharing with you today.  You survived Monday; you deserve some good laughs!  And if you enjoy word play and, as Lederer says in his subtitle, “accidental assaults upon our language”, I urge you to get the book immediately!!  You won’t stop laughing for hours.  But beware.  It’s addictive!

Potty humor

Yesterday I shared a quote by Thomas Jefferson.  Today I’m sharing a thought of my own.  It may not be as deep as the one from TJ, but I feel it’s quite relevant to many of us in ways that it would not have been to him.  What do you think?

Jellyfish

I love the gracefulness and colors of these lights but, as Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell said way back in the 60’s…

“Ain’t nothin’ like the real thing, baby!”

Playing

I was all set to do Thursday Doors, before I recalled that doors are closed for another week.  So I decided to play a bit with a shot taken in the Southwest Airlines portion of the Philadelphia airport.  I like the bright, airy feeling of the display and a little editing fun gave it a Japanese woodcut feel.  Happy Thursday!

Tuesday tweets

I’ve mentioned this bush outside our house in a previous post, likening it to an avian Starbucks where birds gather to spend time with their friends. Usually they perch on top as they chat, but in this video, although they’re shy, they’re definitely not quiet! They’re  online, using Twitter extensively.  Not sure they meet the character quota, though, and hopefully they’re not stealing our internet!!  :-)​

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Just for fun

After waking to the news of the shootings in Las Vegas yesterday, listening to coverage to find out what actually happened, and then being disgusted by the immediate advent of the blame game, I thought I’d go with something light and fun today, something I concocted on Pixlr.  I hope it brings a smile to your face and a bit of joy to your heart.
 

You do?