Aloha Friends,
Let’s take a look at Eponyms. An Eponym is: A word based on or derived from a person's name.
Here are a couple of interesting ones. All of us make mistakes, at times, in using the right word(s) when expressing ourselves. However these two people made it a habit in their lives. (One of them is a fictional character.)
Malapropism:
A humorous verbal blunder in which one word is replaced by another similar in sound but different in meaning.
Origin: The term derives from a character in Richard Sheridan's play ‘The Rivals’. In that play a character, Mrs. Malaprop, had a funny problem. She would say things that would not make any sense at all but when a similar sounding word was substituted for what she had uttered it would make sense. Wanting to say “the geography of contiguous countries”, she would say the "geometry of contagious countries". She also regretted that her "affluence" over her niece was very small when she wanted to say that she regretted that her “influence” over her niece was very small.
Spoonerism:
The transposition of usually initial sounds of words producing a humorous result.
Origin: W. A. Spooner was an English clergyman noted for many verbal slips. Much like Mrs. Malaprop he would say things which would not make sense initially but would do so immensely when exchanging the initial words.
E.g. “It was a blushing crow” when he actually meant “It was a crushing blow”
"You have hissed the mystery lectures" when he actually meant "You have missed the history lectures"
Do you know of any other Eponyms? If so mention the same in the Comments section
Ciao
This Comment is taken from "A Guide to Bushspeak" written by Bob Wieder at: http://www.sfgate.com
ReplyDeleteThis website is the home of the San Fransisco Chronicle.
AFTER LISTENING to the public utterances of George W. Bush, if that's your idea of time well spent, one is tempted to make some snide, wiseacre remark, such as ``Evidently English is his second language.'' Or ``Here's a game show idea: Anybody who can figure out what Dubya is saying wins an ambassadorship.'' Or ``Was he giving a stump speech, or doing a Norm Crosby impression?''
For younger readers: Norm Crosby was a semi-celebrated stand-up comic in the '60s whose gimmick was the malapropism, or the confusing of similar- sounding words and phrases, often with amusing effect. Examples include saying ``held hostile'' instead of ``held hostage,'' complaining about being ``pillared'' in the press when you mean ``pilloried,'' and telling school kids that to succeed, ``You've got to preserve,'' when the word you had in mind was ``persevere.''
These particular examples are, as it happens, all actual malapropisms enunciated by candidate Bush, who has also confused ``subscribe'' with ``ascribe,'' ``gist'' with ``grist,'' and ``vile'' with either ``vital'' or ``viable,'' depending on how you read a call for ``an economically vile hemisphere.'' (``Vinyl'' seems to be an unlikely longshot.)
While this malapropist tendency may be fine for politician Bush -- after all, they can't flag you for lies or slander if they're never sure what the hell you're saying -- it tends to be disconcerting for those who like to base their vote on the stated positions taken by the candidates. Which can be a fairly heady challenge in Bush's case.
For instance, when he declared America's ongoing need for ``tackular'' nuclear weapons, did he mean to say ``tactical,'' or ``spectacular''? The Russians and Chinese might also like some clarification.
If you want to read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/09/10/ED18427.DTL&hw=RUMEN&sn=001&sc=1000
1. bacchanalia
ReplyDeletemeaning: person who drinks a lot
derived from : roman god of wine
2. narcissism
meaning: excessive intrest in oneself.
from: in greek mythology Narcissus was a handsome youth who fell in love with his own image looking at in lake.
3.Hector
meaning: talk to someone in bullying manner
from: trojan warrior Hector (i hope you remember movie Troy , hector played by eric bana) , earlier it use to symbolise bravery later it started meaning a braggart or bully.
4.bushism
i guess i need not say anymore
let me put some famous dubya excerpts
a. i firmly beleive that death tax is good for people from all walks of life througghout our society
b.I love the idea of school in which people come to get educated and stay in the same state in which they are educated
c.We are ready for any unforeseen evenet which may or may not happen
d.Those of you received awards honors i say well done. And to the C students I say you too can be president of this country
5.Epicure
meanining: a perosn who takes special pleasure in fine food and drink
from: Greeek philosper Epicurus taught that pleasure particulary meantal pleasure was indeed the highest form of the good.
6. Fabian
meaninig: employing peristent but dilatory strategy to wear out an enemy while avoiding direct battle
from: Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus was known for his delaying tactics in his war against Hannibal . He avoided direct conflict and instead slowly ad steadily cut his enemy supply lines and troops member while rustrating.
A very good example . Our very own DADA(Saurav Ganguly ) have been accused occasionally by Kangaaaroos of using Fabian tactics ( guess we won all those matches in which Dada used these tactics (though he denies using them) and that made him the succesful captain india ever had) :P