play malaprops

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Jun 6, 2007, at 8:32 AM, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:

> I don't remember this discussion, but some others that come to
> mind are "cast asparagus" for "cast aspersions" (a few exx. in
> HDAS, one from Dos Passos), "au reservoir", "horse's ovaries"
> (for "hors d'oeuvres"), "Lost Wages" (for Las Vegas), and
> "mercy buckets" (for "merci beaucoup").

several different subtypes here:

1.  playful versions of "fancy" (but native) words: cast nasturtiums/
asparagus

2.  cross-linguistic travesties: au reservoir, horse's ovaries, mercy
buckets

3.  satirical nicknames: Lost Wages, Mop and Pail (for Globe and
Mail), Needless Markups (for Neiman Marcus)

if i remember correctly, type 3 comes up here every so often; there
are tons and tons of examples.

arnold

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