malaprop

Malaprop refers to a character trait and the linguistic phenomenon known as malapropism. The term is named after Mrs. Malaprop, a fictional character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 1775 comedy The Rivals. The character is famous for repeatedly misusing words in humorous ways, a trait that gave rise to the term describing such substitutions. The name itself is often linked to the French mal à propos, meaning ill-placed.

Malapropism is a form of speech error in which a speaker substitutes a word that sounds similar to the intended word but has a different meaning. The result can be humorous or revealing about the speaker’s social status, education, or character. In literature, malapropisms are used to create comedy, satire, or to highlight a character’s pretensions. In everyday language, the term is applied more broadly to describe such substitutions, regardless of the speaker’s intention.

A famous example attributed to Mrs. Malaprop is the line “the very pineapple of politeness” instead of “the pinnacle of politeness.” The phenomenon is related to other linguistic slips such as spoonerisms (sound transpositions) and eggcorns (misheard phrases that acquire new meaning). Malapropism remains a widely cited device in both literary critique and discussions of everyday language, illustrating how near-sounding words can produce strikingly different meanings.