Here are a couple of others that I think are rare:
Years ago, my father often would say, "You need to have a clear prospectus about ... (whatever it was that he thought I didn't have a clear perspective on)." Once, I tried to correct him, but he insisted that he was right and I was wrong; I didn't have the heart to continue insisting. I've never heard anyone else use this malapropism.
A student of mine recently, in a journal response to Arthur Miller's The Crucible, wrote about Tituba's belief in "view-due." I had to read that a couple of times before I registered her mistake!
My favorite should-be-a-wordism from my most recent bout of grading:
He may have been moti!
vated by
his subconscientious mind.
Bill Spruiell
Dept. of English
CentralMichiganUniversity
From:Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Diane Allen Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2006 9:51 AM To:[log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Question: Language change and malapropism
Diane Allen, M.A. Technical Writing Coordinator MidlandCollege AFA 131 432/685-6458 office 432/686-4901 fax [log in to unmask]
The discussion of the broadening of the meaning of 'unique' is interesting, but I see a different problem that I might call widespread malapropism.
My students often create terms or use them as malapropisms--and these may be derived from rap music or these may have their roots in Microsoft Word's spell-checker. Does anyone else know anything more about this?
One frequently occurring example is the word 'blase' to mean "bla-bla-bla" or 'yadayadayada". My students will actually say: "blase blase blase" thinking that it is equivalent to these other terms. So when this phrase enters widespread use, can we say that the meaning of 'blase' has altered? (even though most students who use it in this context do not k!
now that
they have altered a meaning; they think they have learned a new word.)
How do they pronounce "blase" in this case: "blah-zay" or "blaze"? Or maybe some other inimitable way?
Diane
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"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction" (_Twelfth Night_ 3.4.127-128).
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