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A malapropism (/ ˈ m æ l ə p r ɒ p ɪ z əm /; also called a malaprop, acyrologia or Dogberryism) is the incorrect use of a word in place of a word with a similar sound, either unintentionally or for comedic effect, resulting in a nonsensical, often humorous utterance.
Because it is most commonly used in conjunction with a nine-month academic year [114] or a nine-month term of human pregnancy, [115] it is sometimes wrongly assumed that trimester is a synonym for one third of a year or other period. [116] [117] Standard: One calendar year contains four trimesters.
The non-word "dord" was excised; "density" was added as an additional meaning for the abbreviation "D or d" as originally intended, [4] and the definition of the adjacent entry "Doré furnace" was expanded from "A furnace for refining Doré bullion" to "a furnace in which Doré
Definitional retreat – changing the meaning of a word when an objection is raised. [23] Often paired with moving the goalposts (see below), as when an argument is challenged using a common definition of a term in the argument, and the arguer presents a different definition of the term and thereby demands different evidence to debunk the argument.
Another kind of typo—informally called an "atomic typo"—is a typo that happens to result in a correctly spelled word that is different from the intended one. Since it is spelled correctly, a simple spellchecker cannot find the mistake. The term was used at least as early as 1995 by Robert Terry. [15] A few illustrative examples include:
A aggravate – Some have argued that this word should not be used in the sense of "to annoy" or "to oppress", but only to mean "to make worse". According to AHDI, the use of "aggravate" as "annoy" occurs in English as far back as the 17th century. In Latin, from which the word was borrowed, both meanings were used. Sixty-eight percent of AHD4's usage panel approves of its use in "It's the ...
Mistaken may refer to: Mistaken, a 2011 novel by Neil Jordan; Mistaken Creek, a stream in Kentucky; Mistaken identity, a claim of the actual innocence of a ...
A thesaurus or synonym dictionary lists similar or related words; these are often, but not always, synonyms. [15] The word poecilonym is a rare synonym of the word synonym. It is not entered in most major dictionaries and is a curiosity or piece of trivia for being an autological word because of its meta quality as a synonym of synonym.