Malapropisms

I spend some time checking out a few blogs and one of them I've recently started reading is Beth Moore's. She's a teacher and writer and while I've never met her personally she comes across as someone who would be an absolute hoot to be friends with - although she'd challenge the daylights out of you in your thinking about God.

She wrote a blip in her blog yesterday and I am going to share it practically word for word. She had me rolling because - well - anyone who has spent any time chatting with my Mom has heard at one time or another one of her little quips. She has so many words she "malapropizes" that we created a dictionary and they are good for the occasional giggle. So... here is Beth's post and then I'll write more:

"OK, this should be a fun one! I just learned a term for something I'm painfully familiar with but didn't know what to call it. It's "Malapropism" and I learned what it meant from a delightful little book called "Tales of a Crazy Pastor's Wife" by Laurie Berry Clifford and Margie Berry Fogal. .... I'll offer their definition of it: "Malapropism (n): The unintentionally humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase; the use of a word sounding somewhat like the one intended but ludicrously wrong on the context." They throw a couple of examples on the table like "polo bears" and "neon (aka nylon) stockings." One of the authors identifies herself as an avid malapropist and explains that, when she was a child, she used "underpass" for "underpants." Killed me."

So...(back to Bonnie) my mother is an avid malapropist (and she will want to smack me for this post, I'm sure) but I started laughing yesterday when I read Beth and thought of Mom immediately. We have, for years, enjoyed her setting the "aviance" (ambiance) and telling us about the "keller" (color) of something. How many times has she wushed (wished) upon a star and kicked a "dunkey" (donkey). She insists it's an "accent" thing but.. uh... Dad, Mike, Brenda & I were all in the same house and not one of us says "keller." I'm pretty sure it's all her. There are sooooo many and the dictionary is on a disk at home. If I still had it here, I'd share the WHOLE thing in this post (she'd love me!).

rhododendrum....
asspergrass....
falk pooh... (faux pas, even we had trouble figuring THAT one out...)

What am I forgetting Brenda? Cristina? There are pages and pages of this stuff...

Might have to start calling her "Mal" for fun. :)

love you, Mom!!!

Have a good weekend, everyone. Mom and I are off to Sequim for the Lavendar Festival. I'm looking forward to it, actually. I've been wanting to go for years and this year works out ducky. Aaron & Christopher are leaving this morning to go camping for the weekend. That is, of course, if Aaron wakes up today. He & a couple of his friends were out at Crossroads this morning (midnight, Aaron says he got home at 4AM...) to see the opening of The Dark Knight. Aaron said it was worth it. At least I'm pretty sure that's what he said. He was still asleep when he was talking to me. :)

I'm on vacation from work next week (YAY!!!) so let's see if I am productive or end up spending a mostly lazy week... I'll let you know!