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A malapropism (; also called a malaprop, acyrologia or Dogberryism) is the incorrect use of a word in place of a word with a similar sound, either unintentionally or for comedic effect, resulting in a nonsensical, often humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed to baseball player Yogi Berra, regarding , "He hits from both sides of the plate. He's amphibious", with the accidental use of amphibian rather than the intended ambidextrous. Malapropisms often occur as speech error in natural speech and are sometimes the subject of media attention, especially when made by politicians or other prominent individuals.
The synonymous term "Dogberryism" comes from the 1598 Shakespeare play Much Ado About Nothing in which the character Dogberry utters many malapropisms to humorous effect. Though Shakespeare was an earlier writer than Sheridan, "malaprop/malapropism" seems an earlier coinage than "Dogberryism", which is not attested until 1836.
Definitions differ somewhat in terms of the cause of the error. Some scholars include only errors that result from a temporary failure to produce the word which the speaker intended. Such errors are sometimes called "Fay–Cutler malapropism", after psycholinguists David Fay and Anne Cutler, who described the occurrence of such errors in ordinary speech. Most definitions, however, include any actual word that is wrongly or accidentally used in place of a similar sounding, correct word. This broader definition is sometimes called "classical malapropism", or simply "malapropism".
Malapropisms differ from other kinds of speaking or writing mistakes, such as or , as well as the accidental or deliberate production of newly made-up words (neologisms).
For example, it is not a malapropism to use obtuse wide instead of acute narrow; it is a malapropism to use obtuse stupid when one means abstruse esoteric.
Malapropisms tend to maintain the part of speech of the originally intended word. According to linguist Jean Aitchison, "The finding that word selection errors preserve their part of speech suggests that the latter is an integral part of the word, and tightly attached to it." Likewise, substitutions tend to have the same number of and the same metrical structure – the same pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables – as the intended word or phrase. If the stress pattern of the malapropism differs from the intended word, unstressed syllables may be deleted or inserted; stressed syllables and the general rhythmic pattern are maintained.
Other malapropisms spoken by Mrs. Malaprop include " illiterate him quite from your memory" (instead of "obliterate"), "he is the very pineapple of politeness" (instead of pinnacle) and "she's as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile" (instead of alligator).There are not on the banks of the Nile, although there are crocodiles.
Malapropisms appeared in many works before Sheridan created the character of Mrs. Malaprop. William Shakespeare used them in a number of his plays, almost invariably spoken by comic ill-educated lower class characters. Mistress Quickly, the inn-keeper associate of Falstaff in several Shakespeare plays, is a regular user of malapropisms.Fergusun, Margaret, Dido's Daughters: Literacy, Gender, and Empire in Early Modern England and France, University of Chicago Press, 2007, p.17. In Much Ado About Nothing, Constable Dogberry tells Governor Leonato, "Our watch, sir, have indeed comprehended two auspicious persons" (i.e., apprehended two suspicious persons) (Act 3, Scene V).
Malapropism was one of Stan Laurel's comic mannerisms. In Sons of the Desert, for example, he says that Oliver Hardy is suffering a nervous "shakedown" (rather than "breakdown"), calls the Exalted Ruler of their group the "exhausted ruler" and says that he and Oliver are like "two peas in a pot" (instead of "pod"); in The Music Box, he inadvertently asked a policeman, "Don't you think you're bounding over your steps?" meaning "overstepping your bounds", which has much in common with the transposition of a Spoonerism. Sometimes even Laurel's partner, Oliver Hardy, also practiced malapropism, particularly correcting Stan's; in The Live Ghost Stan tells a captain that he heard the ocean is infatuated with sharks. Oliver is quick to call out Stan's malapropism only to correct him with another: "Not infatuated! He means infuriated." The correct word in question is actually infested.
Emily Litella, a fictional character created and performed by American comedian Gilda Radner used malapropism to entertain viewers on the late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live, including one skit in which she was puzzled over the hubbub surrounding the "plight of Soviet jewelry" instead of "Soviet Jewry".
British comedian Ronnie Barker also made great use of deliberate malapropisms in his comedy, notably in such sketches as his "Appeal on behalf of the Loyal Society for the Relief of Suffers from Pismronunciation", which mixed malapropisms and garbled words for comic effect – including news of a speech which "gave us a few well-frozen worms (i.e., well-chosen words) in praise of the society". Ronnie Barker monologue: Pismronunciation", The Guardian, 4 October 2005. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
Ring Lardner used malapropism extensively for comic effect. For example, in his short story The Young Immigrunts, the four-year-old narrator repeatedly refers to a bride and groom as the "bride and glum".
Archie Bunker, a character in the American TV sitcom All in the Family, used malapropisms frequently: he refers, for example, to "off-the-docks Jews" (Orthodox Judaism) and the "Women's Lubrication Movement" (rather than Liberation). (2025). 9780820479156, Peter Lang. ISBN 9780820479156 Intending to refer to the medical specialized field of gynecology and to specialist in that field as a gynecologist, he would mispronounce the words as "groinecology" and "groinecologist".
Tyler Perry's fictional character Madea is known for her Southern dialectical usage of malapropisms, which some critics link to the Mammy stereotype. (2025). 9781315889832 ISBN 9781315889832
Ricky LaFleur of the Trailer Park Boys is known for his constant malapropisms, which are often called "Rickyisms". Some of his more notable ones include "worst case Ontario" (instead of "worst case scenario") and "two turnips in heat" (instead of "turn up the heat").
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