Neologism vs Malapropism - What's the difference?
neologism | malapropism |
(linguistics) A word or phrase which has recently been coined; a new word or phrase.
(linguistics, uncountable) The act or instance of coining, or uttering a new word.
(psychiatry) The newly coined, meaningless words or phrases of someone with a psychosis, usually schizophrenia.
(uncountable) The blundering use of an absurdly inappropriate word or expression in place of a similar sounding one.
(countable) An instance of this; malaprop.
As nouns the difference between neologism and malapropism
is that neologism is a word or phrase which has recently been coined; a new word or phrase while malapropism is the blundering use of an absurdly inappropriate word or expression in place of a similar sounding one.neologism
English
(wikipedia neologism)Noun
Usage notes
For a word to be no longer considered new, it needs to be understood by a significant portion of the population as having always been a valid word. For that to occur the word must have been in common use for approximately one generation — fifteen to twenty years — but there is no universally accepted measure.Synonyms
* coinageAntonyms
* paleologismDerived terms
* diffused neologism * stable neologismSee also
* protologism * vogue words *References
* The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style. Bryan A. Garner. Oxford University Press, 2000. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 21 June 2006 * The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.malapropism
English
(wikipedia malapropism)Noun
(en noun)- The script employed malapropism to great effect.
- The translator matched every malapropism in the original with one from his own language.
- The humor comes from all the malapropisms .