mal•a•prop n. - the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar

Example: You need an altitude adjustment, you’re too self-defecating.”

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prop•o•si•tion (prp-zshn) n.

1. A Subject for discussion or analysis.
2. A statement that affirms or denies something.

Example: “I think you should go play a nice game of hide-and-go-fuck-yourself.”

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Your Participation Required

As a result of writing this blog I’ve realized that there are a few words in the English language that I almost yearn to use more often… “yearn” being one of them. Here’s a partial list of words that I don’t hear often enough:

I’ll add to this as the days progress. This will serve as my online repository of words I should use more often.

Anything to add? Please remember, your participation is mandatory.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll bite. Here's my list for today:

-hucklebuck
-screed
-marginalia
-skirmish
-waif
-blotto
-tomfoolery

Scott Muggli said...

Those are good. I've added "Screed" and "Tomfoolery" to my list. I can;t believe I didn;t include Tomfoolery. I'm not sure what Hucklebuck is though.

Thanks!

Marc Conklin said...

Hullabaloo
Rigmarole
Whosiwhatsis
Scrumptious
Kerfuffle
Asinine
Schnoz
Dong

Anonymous said...

hucklebuck = hillbilly

Clusterfuck seemed to obvious.

Anonymous said...

Course I meant "too."
Damn bottle of wine went down to(o) easy.
And thanks for the kind words.
Of yours I think I liked shenanigans most. But then I'm Irish.
Also like umbrage. That sounds like what it is. Take "umbrage"! Ok, I will!

Cheers!

Patina said...

Malign
Aghast
Grandiloquence
Exculpatory


Can we add a sub-category of words people commonly misuse?

Your / You're
Affect / Effect
Borrow - as in, "I'll borrow you my hammer."
Anxious /Eager

There are more, but these irritate me the most.

Scott Muggli said...

Patina, oh yes! A whole new section for words that are misused. I like it. It's almost a subvariant of a Malaprop itself. Is there a word for that? Is Malaproposition actually the new term we should us for unintential misuse of a word?

The mind wobbles.

It's not quite a malaprop, but what is it? Marc... your the grammar freak - a little help?

Marc Conklin said...

I believe it's called a "schulerism."

Unknown said...

Sorry that I'm a bit late to chime in but here are the words that have been rattling around in my brain lately, trying to get out whenever possible. Why not show them a good time?

Alacrity
Wherewithal
Heretofore
Twee
Davenport

Matt Rouse - Oregon Voodoo Inc. said...

Strangely, I use some of those words on a daily basis. But here's a few more I like...

scenario - "Hey Scott, what's the scenario for tonight?"
definistrate - always useful
Shenanagins - not sure if this is an actual word.