A Word A Day —catachresis

This week’s theme: Words about words and language.

catachresis (kat-uh-KREE-sis) noun

   The misuse of words.

[Here’s a catchall word for all those mixed metaphors, malapropisms, and bushisms. It derives via Latin from Greek katakhresthai (to misuse).]

Today’s word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=catachresis

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

  “Our neighbors to the north aren’t spared the disease of catachresis, either. A Canadian politician displayed this manifestation of the illness: ‘If this thing starts to snowball, it will catch fire right across the country.’”
   Jaime O’Neill; A Verbal Ship Lost in a Sea of Words; San Francisco Chronicle; Sep 25, 2005.

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The noble and the nobility are usually at odds with one another. -Johann Gottfried Seume, author (1763-1810)

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Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/catachresis.mp3

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