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This week's theme Words about words and language. This week's words grammatolatry catachresis parapraxis lingua franca orthoepy Today's word in Visual Thesaurus Discuss Feedback RSS/XML A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg catachresis PRONUNCIATION: (kat-uh-KREE-sis) MEANING: noun: The misuse of words. ETYMOLOGY: Here's a catchall word for all those mixed metaphors, malapropisms, and bushisms. It derives via Latin from Greek katakhresthai (to misuse). USAGE: "Our neighbors to the north aren't spared the disease of catachresis, either. A Canadian politician displayed this manifestation of the illness: 'If this thing starts to snowball, it will catch fire right across the country.'" Jaime O'Neill; A Verbal Ship Lost in a Sea of Words; San Francisco Chronicle; Sep 25, 2005. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: The noble and the nobility are usually at odds with one another. -Johann Gottfried Seume, author (1763-1810)

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