The Eponymous Origin of Malapropism

3/8/2017

The Rivals (1775) by Richard Sheridan
Act I Scene II

Sir ANTHONY Why, Mrs. Malaprop, in moderation now, what would you have a woman know?

Mrs. MALAPROP Observe me, Sir Anthony. I would by no means wish a daughter of mine to be a progeny (proponent) of learning; I don't think so much learning becomes a young woman; for instance, I would never let her meddle with Greek, or Hebrew, or algebra, or simony (simony, which refers to the corrupt practice of selling religious offices does not fit in the context), or fluxions, or paradoxes, or such inflammatory branches of learning--neither would it be necessary for her to handle any of your mathematical, astronomical, diabolical instruments.--But, Sir Anthony, I would send her, at nine years old, to a boarding-school, in order to learn a little ingenuity and artifice. Then, sir, she should have a supercilious (superfluous) knowledge in accounts;--and as she grew up, I would have her instructed in geometry (geography), that she might know something of the contagious (contiguous) countries;--but above all, Sir Anthony, she should be mistress of orthodoxy, that she might not mis-spell, and mis-pronounce words so shamefully as girls usually do; and likewise that she might reprehend (comprehend) the true meaning of what she is saying. This, Sir Anthony, is what I would have a woman know;--and I don't think there is a superstitious (supercilious) article in it.

Sir ANTHONY Well, well, Mrs. Malaprop, I will dispute the point no further with you; though I must confess, that you are a truly moderate and polite arguer, for almost every third word you say is on my side of the question. But, Mrs. Malaprop, to the more important point in debate--you say you have no objection to my proposal?

What is malapropism? Why do you think Sheridan assigns such abundant malapropisms to Mrs Malaprop?

16 Comments

Luis Villanueva 1-2A

3/11/2017 20:52:12

Malapropism is when you mean to say one word but you stutter or fumble and say something that you either don't mean or that doesn't make sense.Donald Trump instead of 9/11 said 7/11 referring to s store instead of the date of the attacks on the twin towers.

Adaylin Alvarez

4/8/2017 01:02:41

Luis, is the 7/11 mishap actually true? Because if it is, I am even more disappointed in the people who voted for Donald Trump. What is even more concerning is that Donald Trump's Secretary of EDUCATION is also committing malapropism. It's ironic because she is the Secretary of Education, or maybe education was a malaprop when she was suggested.

Pedro Polanco

3/14/2017 00:33:19

So much malapropism is assigned to Mrs. Malaprop to describe her lack of knowledge toward certain words. By her sounding so convincingly and intriguingly thorough she doesn't fool Sir Anthony. It seems that she believed to sound very educated to Sir Anthony while she discretely makes no sense of herself. I think this scene is creating a parody of how numerously she uses malapropism and just gives the woman that name,"Mrs Malaprop".

Andrea Gaytan

3/20/2017 09:02:28

I agree with your comment on how she thinks she sounds so educated but in reality is making herself sound like a fool. This is a way to show someone's lack of intelligence because someone who is very bright wouldn't usually make these many mistakes while speaking.

Jorge Gonzalez

3/19/2017 16:28:26

Ok so malapropism is when a character mistakes a word in a sentence for a similar-sounding one. I believe that Sherdian assigns Mrs. Malaprop various malapropisms just to emphasize Mrs. Malaprop's personality. Mrs. Malaprop says "but above all, Sir Anthony, she should be mistress of orthodoxy, that she might not mis-spell, and mis-pronounce words so shamefully as girls usually do; and likewise that she might reprehend (comprehend) the true meaning of what she is saying. " By adding malapropism to this sentence and many other, us as the public or readers are able to comprehend that we shouldn't take her seriously.

3/19/2017 21:22:17

Malapropism is when the person is talking and instead of saying what they mean to say they say something different that fits into what they're saying but is usually bad. Donald Trump is a person that uses a lot of malapropism during his speeches or even tweets on twitter. Malapropism usually occurs when you are just talking but not really focusing on what your actually trying to say. Sheridan is trying to convey the message of what malapropism is and even the name of the lady is Mrs. Malprop. Mrs Malprop confuses the audience by placing words that do not make sense and convey the proper message.

3/20/2017 08:57:41

Malapropism is defined as "the mistake use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect." It is a misuse of a word that creates a ridiculous sentence that usually ends up confusing similar sound words. And I think Sheridan makes Mrs.Malaprop to use an extensive amount of malapropism to show what malapropism is. Her name is close to it making the connection she uses a lot of malapropism.

David Ali Hernandez

3/23/2017 22:11:05

Though Ms.Malaprop's usage of malapropism proves that she dose not have much knowledge of the words she is using she makes the play humorous and more entertaining, because she is just using words that she heard before and using them as other words just to sound smarter.

Roxanne Flores

3/25/2017 10:54:14

In a way many of us might use malapropism when we don't know the right word but substitute another word to make up for it. People do this maybe to seem as if they are smart but really they don't know their vocabulary. So this may be the reason why Sheridan used malapropism to make Mrs.Malaprop seems educated to those who are uneducated themselves when really she is using the wrong words. Sheridan is using a literary device to show her lack of education.

Valeria Salinas

3/26/2017 20:20:27

Malapropism is a use of an incorrect word in place of a similar sounding word that results in a nonsensical and humorous expression. I think Sheridan assigns such abundant malapropisms to Mrs Malaprop because of her lack of knowledge. It's making it be seen as humorous. With that being said, Mrs.Malaprop just uses the words to to replace the "real" ones just to sound smart.

Frizia Lei Ramos

3/28/2017 00:07:33

The malapropisms characterize Mrs Malaprop character to be foolish herself and the prefix "mal" already labels her to be wrong. In 1700's, women were still designed to be "uneducated" like the phrase Sir Anthony says "what would you have a woman know?". I think that the malapropisms are used by Mrs Malaprop to give the illustration of what ideal women her daughter should be like. It's like saying she should be like me which is funny.

Jackeline A Martinez

3/28/2017 20:59:59

There are a lot of novels, plays or any type of writings that is for a specific topic or have something weird that complement with the full concept of it, as an example this act that contains multiple malapropisms in order to entertain and make humorous the scene creating irony because she is talking to educate while she even doesn't know what she is talking about, confusing the audience "geometry" with "geography"... This maybe don't have anything related but it remaind me the words of Daisy Buchanan " the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool." But in actual days I think that is the worst thing.

Chris bautista

4/4/2017 16:52:57

Ok so what i am understanding is that malapropism is when someone miss uses a word or substitutes a word ina sentence for that of an effect. This also shows that that they are people who does not know many words.

4/8/2017 00:57:48

Mis Malaprop is hilarious, its funny because her name is malaprop and she commits malapropism a lot. The use of words in the wrong context is called malapropism. I find it hilarious because Mis Malaprop acts very smart, high and mighty but she is actually looking like an idiot because she isn't intelligent at all. I have a question, is the use of metaphysical in describing metaphysical poets wrong and committing malapropism? Although malapropism is quite concerning when the president commits them, I find it hilarious and comedic gold.

Monica Orduna

4/16/2017 11:46:22

Malapropism is defined as when someone incorrectly uses a word that sounds the same as other but doesn't have the same meaning. The examples demonstrated in this text clearly make us see how sometimes people tend to create a false image of themselves by saying words that are not even real to show some kind of intelligence. This image can be only truth if that type of person get around of people who doesn't have a good knowledge into the words but for other people, can be really a good comedy hearing or reading those type of mistakes. A really good example of malapropism can be a lot of the tweets from Donald Trump.

Samantha Garza

5/7/2017 21:05:47

Malapropism is when an incorrect word has similar sounds but has a whole different meaning. I believe that Sheridan assigns Mrs. Malaprop malapropism to shows that she lacks knowledge, she may act smart and all,but she really isn't. She seems smart to others who aren't educated. But she is using the wrong words and she's confusing the audience.

The Eponymous Origin of Malapropism

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