The Mot Juste. Not

"Mot Juste" is French for "the right word". The antonym might be "Mal a propos", which translates as "inappropriate". 

One of the most famous fictional characters who routinely chose the inappropriate word was Mrs. Malaprop in "The Rivals" by Sheridan. Mrs. Malaprop became the eponym for the malapropism, or use of the wrong word.

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/05/23/thirty-malapropisms/

Mrs. Malaprop wasn't the first character in a play to use the wrong word to unintentional comic effect. Before her, there was Shakespeare's policeman Dogberry in "Much Ado About Nothing", with his Dogberryisms.

https://www.rd.com/article/malapropism-examples/

I infer that we prefer not to talk about Dogberryism because of the ugliness of "y" followed by "i". It's no more difficult to pronounce than "skiing", except there are five syllables. It's a pity, because Dogberry's report about "auspicious characters" (suspicious) is much less forced than Mrs. Malaprop's "allegories" (alligators) on the banks of the Nile.

Last week, an immigrant who was cutting my lawn ripped an inconvenient branch off my prized sumac tree. I protested. He did not understand me, because he does not speak English, so he whipped out his "smart" phone, called up a well known search engine's translate application, and called me a Sex Worker while smiling politely.

Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I infer that something --a great deal-- was lost in translation. 

I assume, but do not know, that it is not English language majors who go in for coding. Using a translation app is rather like playing Chinese Whispers. I wonder whether we still call the game by that name. It might not be politically correct! "Russian Scandal" isn't much better.

https://experientialspeaking.co.uk/chinese-whispers/

When I was a teacher at a British boarding school, we escorted the students to church every Sunday, and the vicar was young, lanky and inexperienced. One sermon, he decided to play Chinese Whipers with the girls. Apparently, the message began as "I had brown blancmange for breakfast", but by the time it got to the middle of the fifth pew, it had become an inappropriately braggadocious "I have a very long one".

Once one has eponyms on one's radar, they are all over the place. Braggadocio was a character in Spenser's "The Faerie Queene".

There's a drip, drip, drip of malapropisms and homophones on television and in social media that makes us all dumber, or angier, or both.

Is a politician with quick reactions to difficult questions from the press "adapt" or "adept"? How should AI know? Both are words.

It is succinct to fill out a form? 

Does the heroic Navy seal keep his deadly little knife strapped to his lower leg in a sheaf or a sheath?

Does a terrorist have the whereabouts, or the wherewithal to carry out an attack?

Did the disciples on The Chosen have a leap of faith or a leave of faith?

Do Americans hold their Presidential erections in November every fourth year?

On that low note, I will conclude.

All the best,

Rowena Cherry