play mrs malaprop
Up Next
Title
CANCEL
mrs malaprop
Words at Play

What is a malaprop?

Editor Peter Sokolowski will tell you all the perpendiculars

A malapropism, or malaprop, is the usually unintentionally humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase, especially the use of a word sounding somewhat like the one intended but ludicrously wrong in context—like polo bears instead of polar bears.

Up next

play mrs malaprop
What is a malaprop?

 

We'll tell you all the perpendiculars

play video title words of the year 1066
Words of the Year: 1066

 

English was never the same after the Norman Conquest

play serenity carr next to an illustration of a refrigerator with the letter d in it
Why is there a 'd' in 'fridge' but not in 'refrigerator'?

 

Thawing one of the mysteries of English

play video between you and i or me
I vs. Me

 

'Between you and __'? Simple guidance for a tricky pronoun.

play illustration of a man watching a washing machine overflow
'All over sudden' vs. 'All of a sudden'

 

Figuring it out at once

play video affect vs effect
Affect vs. Effect

 

Here's the lowdown on what may be the most confusing pair of words in the English language.

play body parts video
When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

 

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
book-magic-glow
Famous Novels, First Lines Quiz Can you identify these novels by their famous fir...
See All