My friend recently wrote to me about a word of the day he saw in the last year or so that he forgot. He described it as "A person who regularly uses words or phrases incorrectly". The word was derived from some mythological wizard's name who used expressions in the wrong way constantly. I would love to hear from you if you happen to know what it is. I've tried everything in the search menu, and can't find the word! thank you! -A
the first word that comes to mind related to malaprops is solecism, but i don't think there's any wizard connection. catachresis is a related word that i think is pretty cooooool , but i'm quite sure it's not what you're looking for.
Mrs. Malaprop was a character in a play by Sheridan, The Rivals, who used pretentious words incorrectly. I am skeptical of the existence of any mythological wizard who misused words habitually.
And, cara, dear, your post was not wasted. I had forgotten "catachresis"= misuse of a word or words.. Those words go in and out of my head like flies in and out of a dairybarn door. Actually mostly out.
P.S. As sample of Mrs. Malaprop's output was " An allegory on the banks of the Nile." Meaning an alligator. I suspect that Sheridan made a mistake, since I do not believe there are any alligators in Africa, only crocodiles. Correct me if I am wrong.
I'm not clear as to how we got to "tautology".I expanded on your use of malapropism, because andreaz was asking about an individual. Incidentally, the etymology of solecism is a bit interesting. The citizens of Solis in Asia Minor were considered slobs by other Greeks, who mocked their speech. Don't you like "pleonasm" or "redundancy"?
Dear andreaz: I woke up at 4 AM, thinking about the oracle at Delphi, and realized that perhaps she was your "mythological Wizard who always told lies." She was not mythological, and rather than telling lies, gave those who crossed her palm with large amounts of silver predictions carefully contrived to be interpreted two ways. For instance, she told a King who was planning a big battle that he would destroy a kingdom. He thought that was good news. But it turned out the kingdom he destroyed was his own.
wwh (veteran) Posted on Thu Jul 12 20:32:52 2001 ....... Don't you like "pleonasm" or "redundancy"?
8pm last night! after i had given up on yesterday's NYTimes cross word puzzle--i had ple(o)--sm and while i had the 4 examples of pleonasms-- i didn't know this word! -- a center piece of the crossword puzzle. (i looked it up first thing this AM!) itsn't interesting how words have there 15 minutes of fame, and then fall back to being normal words?
Thank youall so much for your help! As it ends up, it wasn't a wizard at all. The word is: mumpsimus (MUMP-suh-muhs) noun
1. Adherence to or persistence in an erroneous use of language, memorization, practice, belief, etc., out of habit or obstinacy. 2. A person who persists in a mistaken expression or practice.
[From a story, which perhaps originated with Erasmus, of an illiterate priest who said mumpsimus rather than sumpsimus (1st plural perfect indicative of Latin sumere to pick up) while reciting the liturgy, and refused to change the word when corrected]
Defines my ex to a T --one of his favorite saying was "Don't try and confuse me with all the facts-- I have already made up my mind" he said it jest-- but at times it really defined how he operated.
Ha, I love it. I will have it embroidered on the strap of my golf bag to keep me on my game.
In the beginning I didn't know proper golf terminology so I would choose a stick (club), put my ball on my pick (tee), often go into the sand pit (trap), grunge (rough) and I rarely went in the middle (fairway) or near the flag (on the green).
Now here is the hic…I play golf with a couple of couple of guys who take the game way too seriously and I was getting a little too serious myself, until one day when I let out a 'tabernacle' after hitting into the woods. Well, I decided right there and then that this was just a game and NO reason to be getting all stressed about so I adopted my 'misnomers' as a gentle reminder that it IS just a game.
Next time one of the guys says, "why on earth don't you use the right terms?" I can honestly say it is a raging case of mumpsimusism.
3. attrib., quasi-adj. Stupidly conservative. 1680 R. Bolron Narrative 9 The Jesuits+are the most Zealous for the propagation of their Religion in their old Mumpsimus Way. 1821 Syd. Smith Wks. (1859) I. 330/2 All the fat and sleek people+the mumpsimus, and ‘well as we are’ people, are perfectly outrageous at being compelled to do their duty.
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, but i'm quite sure it's not what you're looking for.
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