When good cliches go bad: developing a poetics of malapropism in the field of contemporary public rhetoric

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Clark, Tom (2009) When good cliches go bad: developing a poetics of malapropism in the field of contemporary public rhetoric. AUMLA (spec.). pp. 103-113. ISSN 0001-2793

Abstract

The malapropism is a composite phrase made up of two or more cliché or platitude elements that do not belong together. It has much in common with catachresis, the combining of metaphorical elements that are at odds with one another—so much so that catachresis often manifests as malapropism. The distinction is that malapropism is a splicing-together of phrase formulas. And because it is recognisably constructed out of formulaic elements that do not belong together—or not analytically speaking, at least—a close observation of malapropism can give us a powerful insight into the language practices and grammatical pathologies of public figures.

Item type Article
URI https://vuir.vu.edu.au/id/eprint/4225
Official URL http://aulla.com.au/AULLA%202009,%20Proceedings.pd...
Subjects Historical > Faculty/School/Research Centre/Department > School of Communication and the Arts
Historical > FOR Classification > 2003 Language Studies
Historical > SEO Classification > 9502 Communication
Keywords ResPubID17041. malapropism, public rhetoric
Citations in Scopus 0 - View on Scopus
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