Malapropisms
“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
Say what?
A malapropism sounds more like a contagious disease than a humor technique, but it’s actually a safe and effective way to catch your reader off guard.
The late baseball catcher Yogi Berra was known as much for his malapropisms as for his skill behind the batter’s box.
A malapropism is the mistaken use of words often in place of similar-sounding ones. It can also be a nonsensical phrase — one that seems to make sense at first but leaves you scratching your head, such as these Yogi Berra malapropisms:
Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.
We made too many wrong mistakes.
It’s like déjà vu all over again.
Yogi created so many malapropisms they became known as Yogi-isms.
Yogi-isms have cropped up everywhere. In fact, he’s been given credit for more malapropisms than he actually created. This led him to utter one more: I didn’t really say everything I said.
He may not have said all he said, but he did say, 90% of the game is half mental, and You can observe a lot by watching.
Most Effective Malapropisms
A malapropism is most effective is when it’s unintentional.
My 10-year-old daughter created one when she tried to quote a favorite line from the 1996 version of 101 Dalmatians.
She meant to say, “It’s not hatred that’s important. It’s the desire to annihilate.“
She accidentally said, “It’s not hatred that’s important. It’s the desire to laminate.”
Really? It’s the desire to cover in plastic? I’m still laughing over that one.
Whenever you hear a good malapropism, put it in your “Humor File.”
Feel free to add this one to your file:
My friend Carol was easy to trick and was a good sport about it. Once, when she caught on that I was tricking her, she laughed and meant to say either, “You’re teasing me,” or “You’re pulling my leg.” What came out, though, was, “You’re teasing my leg.”
Could Your Novel Use a Malapropism?
Malapropisms create not only a touch of humor, they can provide a needed comic relief in a mystery or drama. Or you could weave them throughout your entire piece and create a spoof, like the play “Murdered to Death.”
Malapropisms are also a good tool for making a character more lovable, like the animated character Dory of the movies Finding Nemo and Finding Dory .
“I suffer from short-term remembery loss.”
Malapropisms will catch your reader off guard and may hold them to the last page. Try adding some into your writing today.
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Now it’s your turn.
What are some of your favorite malapropisms?
Share them in the Condiments section at the bottom of the page.
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2 Comments
I had no idea there was a word for Yogi’s sayings. And yeah, I’ll have to write down the stuff my toddlers say so I can use it later. Um, for creative license of course, not blackmail…
Haha! Of course, only for creative license! Certainly not blackmail. Lol. And yes, Yogiisms is a real thing. I guess you know you’ve made it when they actually create a term for whatever comes out of your mouth.