Anatomy of a malapropism
Let us now praise . A character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan鈥檚 1775 play 鈥淭he Rivals,鈥� she鈥檚 made audiences laugh with her almost-but-not-quite-right word choices for generations. Other playwrights have worked this comic vein 鈥� notably Moli猫re, and Shakespeare, whose constable Dogberry, in 鈥淢uch Ado About Nothing,鈥� was a sort of proto-Barney Fife. But today we call such bungled usages malapropisms.
Reviewing some examples of these the other day, though, I began to have a little sympathy for their namesake 鈥� and all the rest of us who occasionally pick the wrong one of a pair of troublesome words. A number of these pairs sound just enough alike and share some common element of meaning to be plausibly confused.聽
Take flaunt and flout, for instance. Flaunt means to show (something) off: a new car, for instance. Flout means to show or express disdain for something: regulations that tell you where you can or cannot park that new car, for instance. Their meanings are distinct: One refers to behavior that arguably pushes the line, the other to behavior that is clearly over the line. But the two sound similar. And they share a common thread of brazenness, cheekiness. No wonder people confuse them.
And etymology is not of much help here. Flout has been used transitively (鈥渢o flout the law鈥�) since the 1550s. But it鈥檚 not clear just whence it derives. 鈥淧ossibly special use鈥� of a Middle English verb meaning 鈥渢o play on the flute,鈥� the Oxford English Dictionary suggests, with less than complete conviction. 鈥淐ompare,鈥� the dictionary continues, 鈥渁 similar development of sense in Dutch fluiten to play the flute, to mock, deride.鈥� Well, OK, maybe.
And flaunt? Here鈥檚 what the OED has to say: 鈥淥f unknown origin.鈥� OED allows that the word looks French, but it can suggest no known French word from which it could have come. Early uses of flaunt suggest flags, banners, plumes, etc., waving 鈥済aily or proudly,鈥� the dictionary explains, adding, 鈥淧ossibly the word may be an onomatopoeia formed with a vague recollection of fly, flout, and vaunt.鈥�
Flounder and founder are another troublesome pair. Both refer to slow failure. The mnemonic is that flounder is what a flounder (fish) does; to founder is what a sinking ship does 鈥� it goes to the bottom. Again, the two words sound alike and share a common thread of meaning, even though they鈥檙e not synonymous.
Hone is widely, and correctly, used to mean 鈥渢o sharpen (something),鈥� either literally (a knife) or more metaphorically (skills, a sales pitch). It鈥檚 also used, less correctly, as an equivalent of 鈥渢o home in on, or to converge upon.鈥� The American Heritage Dictionary, for example, accepts this usage. But Steven Pinker, for one, isn鈥檛 buying it: In his new book, 鈥淭he Sense of Style,鈥� he calls it 鈥渁 malaprop of to home, 鈥榬eturn home,鈥� (what homing pigeons do).鈥� Again, there鈥檚 an overlap in meaning (鈥済radually converge on a precise point or edge鈥�) that 鈥渃onspires with the similar sounds to encourage the malaprop.鈥�
