Friday 14 October 2011

On Malapropisms and Context Codes

A little note on the invention of "the allegory on the banks of the Nile", implicitly referring to the alligator, but in a fun and engaging way: it goes, this is an example of "code", no less valid for the Secret Agents operating in the world, a code that is contextual for a _set_ of people. Not only one person, in opposition. So given that you take part in a certain context, possibly with varying decryption tools, this goes for you too. Alright? Happy reading!

Ok. A little information: it's from The Rivals (first acted 17 January 1775). The author is Richard Brinsley Sheridan. This is related directly to "malapropism", "A malapropism is the grotesque or inappropriate use of a word. An example is Yogi Berra's statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes." The malapropism is the use of "electrical" instead of the correct word, "electoral," which is similar in sound." This is from Wikip. I agree to the possible misuse of language, but there is something more to the play of The Rivals by Sheridan even though his character is named "Mrs. Malaprop, Lydia's middle-aged guardian", relating to the above definition of misuse of language.

Note: this is a Facebook writing of mine, published on "Static Display of Work...", time, 03:33, date: 22.08.2011, CEST.

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