Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2019 April 29

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April 29

Name for speech error?

I am trying to remember a type of speech error (similar I think to bowdlerism, which is something else) that was named for a publisher known for trying to improve existing works according to his own rules and thereby introducing odd or humorous language. Can someone help? Jmar67 (talk) 13:36, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

Maybe I am indeed thinking of "bowdlerism" and misunderstood what it meant. Jmar67 (talk) 14:11, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

Spoonerism? Bus stop (talk) 14:46, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

No, I had already ruled that out. Thanks. Jmar67 (talk) 15:04, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

I think the Chicago Tribune at one time had tried, to some extent, to implement the ideas of the Simplified Spelling Board. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:13, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

That's interesting, although not what I was thinking of. German underwent a similar reform several years ago. Much of it was controversial. Jmar67 (talk) 15:42, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

Thomas Bowdler was famous for going through the works of Shakespeare and taking out all the naughty bits. Not sure that the results are particularly humorous though. Alansplodge (talk) 16:20, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

• False alarm. I am thinking of the German term "Verballhornung", the intentional or unintentional (re)formulation of known or unknown words and idioms. It is derived from Johan Balhorn, a 16th-century printer who supposedly revised a flawed law text he had printed and ended up with one that had more errors than before. The English equivalent is "distortion", "corruption", "disimprovement". Jmar67 (talk) 18:33, 29 April 2019 (UTC)
  • Clearly not what you were thinking of, but malapropism comes to mind also. --76.69.46.228 (talk) 20:51, 29 April 2019 (UTC)
    • "Spoonerism" and "malapropism" are related to this discussion, but the German term often refers to something that by misfortune becomes part of the language. Jmar67 (talk) 01:55, 30 April 2019 (UTC)

Also Mumpsimus (though that's an old error, not a new one)... AnonMoos (talk) 03:21, 30 April 2019 (UTC)

New term to me, thanks. I think "for all intensive purposes" is a good example of what the German term is referring to. Jmar67 (talk) 04:08, 30 April 2019 (UTC)

Would eggcorn be relevant as well? Iapetus (talk) 08:57, 30 April 2019 (UTC)

Yes, I think so. I admit that I had never heard the word "eggcorn" until this discussion and took it to be BrE. Jmar67 (talk) 11:37, 30 April 2019 (UTC)

Arabic in Comoros

What variety of Arabic is spoken in the Comoros? — Mr. Guye (talk) (contribs)  19:57, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

According to the French language article on Languages of the Comoros [1], Arabic is not really spoken there outside of a religious context. Therefore, there is no local native variety. --Xuxl (talk) 12:59, 30 April 2019 (UTC)