Permit us to write this edition under this rubric which we have once used. We might, in fact, use it from time to time, whenever the need arises to take a break and tweak the drift for something fresher or take stock of what we have been doing. We take a break at this juncture to review what we have done so far on the important error MALAPROPISM – a topic considered so important that we have explored it in a 10-edition series titled “Say what you mean and mean what you say.” Yet, we still have so much to share on it. But we need to shelve further discussions of the subject till much later. For now, we recap the salience of what we have shared so far on the topic.
We have shared what we mean by malapropism and why it is important to master its nature and character, its implications for good writing and effective communication, as well as how to avoid falling into the avoidable but commonly committed pitfall. As explained in the beginning, malapropism “is the writing habit of misusing certain words for other words” (“Pop” Errors in English: Writers Beware). The book cites Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary as defining it “as “an amusing mistake somebody makes when they use a word which sounds similar to the word they wanted to use, but means something different.” It adds that another dictionary simply describes malapropism as “a ludicrous misuse of words” (Webster’s Universal Dictionary and Thesaurus).
Malapropisms come in various forms – as careless confusions of one word with another; wrong selection of words instead of the appropriate words; words simply taken to mean what they do not mean; and sheer bombasts. Some writers rampantly commit malapropisms because the sources are many. These include carelessness; little attention to meaning and the communicative use of words; confusion of sound-alikes (words that sound the same way); confusion of look-alikes (words that seemingly look like each other); stark ignorance; weak vocabulary; lexical pomposity; poor spelling habits; and incorrect pronunciation (some simply operate their own rules of pronunciation with deleterious consequences for their writing).
Because the essence of writing at all is to communicate precisely and effectively, that is, share meaning, we have advised, in line with the book referenced earlier that “any writer who is desirous of conveying precise meaning will do his best to avoid malapropisms.” The emphasis here is that it is important we choose the correct or most appropriate words, expressions, phrases or ideas when expressing our thoughts in writing, so as to share meaning and deliver purpose. Do not forget, communication is purposive. When you write, you are doing more than just passing information. You are seeking understanding you are trying to put someone on the same page with you on something; you are perhaps also trying to strike a responsive chord in someone; you may even desire to get something important from your audience. For example, you desire a favourable response to an application for whatever, and that may depend to a large extent on whether the recipient understands your message, which your choice of words will enable or frustrate.
In this connection, be a stickler for precise communication, and “note how, strangely, the synonyms of the same word will not always convey the same meaning. This suggests that the writer must spare no effort to perfect his diction.” By diction, we mean expressions, wordings, phrasings or choice of words or even style. “Pop” Errors in English: Writers Beware demonstrates these highly-nuanced semantic sensitivities with the various possible meanings of the words WALK, GOOD and SUPPORT.
The book asks us to “Consider the following meanings of the word WALK alone: crimp, limp, pace, pad, plod, shuffle, stagger, stump, stroll, tiptoe, trudge, waddle and so on.” This shows that it is a more appropriate and evocative wording if you describe a pregnant woman as waddling into the labour room in the maternity.
According tp the book, the adjective GOOD can stand for any of: “delicious, tasty, exciting, entertaining, absorbing, fascinating, informative, pleasant, enjoyable, fine, talented, skillful, brilliant, impressive, high-quality, useful, helpful and so forth.” So, if you commend your wife for an exciting meal, you may confuse her more than ever, just for carelessly and inappropriately choosing the adjective exciting instead of the more proper adjective delicious, even as both words are correct synonyms of the word good.
And we are also told that the word SUPPORT “can denote any of these: help, approval, aid, assistance, backing, blessing, encouragement, comfort, friendship, loyalty, patronage, protection, relief, succor, sustenance and so on (and that is stretching its noun form only).” It will thus resonate more strongly to say that you got the blessing of your pastor for your political ambition than to say you got his aid or help.
In the 10 editions we have devoted to harping on saying what you mean and meaning what you say, we have also demonstrated the need to avoid malapropisms, using copious examples of malapropian gaffes drawn from a wide spectrum of writings. We shall return to discussing new examples of malapropism – but much later, as hinted at the beginning of this edition. Next, we will be focusing on a new series to be titled “Sundry Misusages,” a subject which is somewhat a variant of malapropism. You will find it exciting.
