SOMETHING TO UNDERSTAND

 SOMETHING TO UNDERSTAND

The current item is a deviation from the present series addressing some aspects of plants in our daily life.  More as a ‘relief’ from rigidities of Science information, I thought of bringing out the ‘seemingly alike but not so' items “SPOONERISM” and” MALAPROPISM”  known in the English language.

These two relate to practical ‘defects’ while speaking.   Are these deliberate are just ‘slips of the tongue or a ‘ploy to mislead’ any recipient can be tricky to decipher. Quite some confusion persists [at least among ‘non-native’ speakers of English] as to when to use which name for the phenomenon.  At the outset, let us figure out what the definition for these terms suggests.

SPOONERISM [MIXING OF SOUNDS]

Spoonerism  gets into a conversation or a stage play when the character[s] commit or seemingly so  make phonetical error of mixing sounds of different words leading to  a feeling of humour  apparently unintended. But playwrights use it as a method of portraying some characters as ‘slipshod’ ones. The words uttered are made to look slips of the tongue; they are presented by mixing of sounds from different words.                 Examples

Wave the sails [is uttered] but it should have been ‘save the whales’.

‘It is kistomary to cuss the bride‘  but, should have been ‘it is customary to kiss the bride’

‘Three cheers for our queer old dean’ but should have been ‘Three cheers for our dear old Queen’

‘Pain is roaring’ but should have been ‘Rain is pouring’

MALAPROPISM

Malapropism has acquired its name from that of a woman stage character named ‘MALAPROP’. The character used to interchange words and deliver them in sounds appropriate for the old world in place.

Malapropism is a non –sense by   utterance but humorous in effect.

For instance

 ‘A blushing crow” for ‘A crushing blow’

‘Eat meeting people’ for ‘Meat eating people’

‘Banging hell‘ for ‘Hanging bell’

Cady in lurch for ‘Lady in church’

In stage plays, such seemingly casual utterances have been conceived well and executed to perfection so as to bring forth spontaneous laughter. As for a Tamil example ; actor Baliah in that movie ‘Kadhalikka neramillai ‘ said “Thambi gunam irukke - ‘Thamba kkambi’ for Thangakkambi”  and quickly makes amends describing the merits of a youngster –presumed to be his own  ‘son-in –law’ to be.

Prof. K. Raman