# What is this common misunderstanding called? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 25, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084 "2009-10-25T20:00:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/1 "2009-10-25T20:00:30Z")
I’m sure TV Tropes has an entry for it, but I don’t know where to start looking. Character A uses a big word. Character B mistakes that word for something else- usually a disease or sexual act. Examples: From _Night Watch_: Carcer: Is he charismatic? Nobby: Don’t know, never heard him cough. From _Origin of PC’S_: Durkon: I’ve come from tha land o’ tha dwarves to liason with your leaders. Man: You want to do WHAT with our leaders? Woman: Ew, grosss. From [the Perfect Master](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1121/what-is-the-term-for-people-who-lack-the-sense-of-taste): Vaguely Important Looking Person at party: “I thought Demi Moore gave a compelling performance in Striptease.” You: “Goodness, you must be an anosmic ageusiatic.” VILP: “No, actually I’m a Presbyterian from Cleveland.” The gold standard here would be the (probably apocryphal) election campaign of George Smathers: > [@](#): > > “Are you aware that Claude Pepper is known all over Washington as a shameless extrovert? Not only that, but this man is reliably reported to practice nepotism with his sister-in-law. And he has a sister who once was a thespian in Greenwich Village. He has a brother who was a practicing homo sapiens. And he went to college where he matriculated with coeds. Worst of all, it is an established fact that Mr. Pepper, before his marriage, practiced celibacy” ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/2 "2009-10-25T20:06:33Z")
I’m not sure if this is in the same category, but I always found this bit from Laurel and Hardy amusing: Hardy: Did you call the doctor? Laurel: Yes, I called Dr. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_. Hardy: But he’s a veterinarian! Laurel: Well, I didn’t think his religion would make a difference. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/3 "2009-10-25T21:15:41Z")
It’s sort of like a reverse-malaprop. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/4 "2009-10-25T21:37:32Z")
In a similar vein, is there a name for the sort of joke where a character uses a complicated word, and a second character, not knowing what it means, ends up responding with something that means the exact same thing? (I think the Skipper and Gilligan used these gags a lot). Example: Narrator: Will Bullwinkle be able to extricate himself? Bullwinkle: I will- just as soon as I get myself loose! ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/5 "2009-10-25T22:22:58Z")
You’re right, there really should be a [tv-tropes.org](http://tv-tropes.org) trope for this, but I’m quite confident there isn’t, having read all the comedy tropes. You could make one. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/6 "2009-10-26T11:59:58Z")
It sounds a bit like the “Officious character quotes a regulation or act and their more clued-up sidekick points out it’s got nothing to do with their current situation” scenario: > [@](#): > > _Rimmer:_ Kryten, you’re forgetting about Space Corps Directive 1742! > > _Kryten:_ 1742? “No member of the Corps should ever report for duty in a ginger toupee”? Well, thank you for reminding me about that regulation, but I can’t see how it is pertinent to our present situation. ---
**Author:** ![Loisseau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@Loisseau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loisseau)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/7 "2009-10-26T21:28:24Z")
A malapropism; like this old saw: “Did you know Jones was a philatelist?” “I didn’t know he masturbated” ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/8 "2009-10-27T18:37:04Z")
That’s a Firesign Theater line, isn’t it? Another one from them: “That’s the eye of the sacred serpent mound, on which you’re standing.” “It’s a beaut!” “No, it’s a mound.” “And right purty, too.” ---
**Author:** ![Tammi\_Terrell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Tammi\_Terrell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tammi_Terrell)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/9 "2010-02-24T13:49:37Z")
“Linguistic malentendu” and “quasi malection,” which I think are the best names for this device, were coined by English professor D.G. Kehl in the 1980s. In describing this play on words, Kehl noted that, > [@](#): > > [l]ike the pun and the double-entendre, quasi malediction is based on similarity of sound between two words with vastly different meanings, but, unlike the pun, it is less a play on words than a confusion between words: linguistic malentendu. Like malapropism, quasi malediction involves similarity in sound between words, but, unlike the malapropism, it is not used incorrectly, nor does it express an untruth. Rather, the confusion results from a kind of linguistic short-circuiting through phonetic association. […] Unlike the punster, who relies on his audience’s awareness of the two words’ denotations, the user of quasi malediction relies on his audience’s ignorance of the denotation and confusion over connotation through phonetic association. [“Quasi Malediction: the Case of Linguistic Malentendu,” _Verbatim_ 10(1): 9-10, 1983.] I suppose that “linguistic malentendu” probably best describes the case in which the speaker uses a $10-word, not suspecting that his listeners are not only unfamiliar with its meaning, but also unaware that they may construe something else (especially something worse). Examples such as Smathers’s fabled use of “shameless extrovert” and “thespian” hinge on the speaker’s relying on (or betting on) his listeners’ ignorance of a word’s meaning to malign (but, at the same time, not malign) his target. This planned deception probably more closely fits a a literal meaning of “quasi malediction.” – Tammi Terrell ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/10 "2010-02-24T14:06:07Z")
> [@Loisseau](#): > > A malapropism; like this old saw: > > “Did you know Jones was a philatelist?” > “I didn’t know he masturbated” Actually, a [malapropism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malapropism) is when the speaker uses a term that sounds like what they are trying to say, but is not. For example, if a teacher bent on vengeance says “I will\* illiterate\* him!” when they really meant “I will _obliterate_ him!” - that’s a malapropism. What I think the OP is looking for is the term _[mondegreen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen)_- a misinterpretation of a word or phrase by the second party. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/11 "2010-02-24T14:16:12Z")
On second thought, I don’t even think mondegreen will necessarily work. I vote with Tammi. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/12 "2010-02-24T14:19:29Z")
“Linguistic malentendu” Wow! I just can’t WAIT to work that into a conversation at the pub. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/13 "2010-02-24T14:34:02Z")
If you want to find some fun examples, there are some in the Game Room labeled Malapropagation (a term coined here as best I know). Early on, maybe the first, the thread title includes “cossack” because it was what we called the game back in the 60’s when it would usually start with bad definitions of the original word leading to bad definitions in a string along the lines of cossack-- cassock – hassock – hammock – hillock – Hickok – hickory – ad infinitum I haven’t checked today, but my guess is there are at least 5 threads there with the same basic idea. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/14 "2010-02-24T15:45:24Z")
> [@Tammi\_Terrell](#): > > \ > > “Linguistic malentendu” and “quasi malection,” which I think are the best names for this device, were coined by English professor D.G. Kehl in the 1980s. > > \ Thanks, Professor. Any Troper Dopers want to submit that to TVTropes? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/15 "2010-02-24T16:03:43Z")
One of the oldest picture postcards ever showed a young woman and man courting. The man asks, “Do you like Kipling?” She replies, “I don’t know, you naughty fellow. I’ve never kippled.” Scott Turow in _Presumed Innocent_ tells of a rape trial in which a very unsophisticated, uneducated victim is being gently questioned by the prosecutor, who has her describe the crime and then asks, “Did he have a climax?” Puzzled, she responds, “No, he had an '83 Cutlass.” ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/16 "2010-02-25T01:38:07Z")
There was one I liked from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [First Motion Picture] The Turtles are in their sewer den, and have given lodging to 3 humans for the night. Casey Jones, [Male] soon complains about the cramped conditions paraphrasing: Casey : I Don’t like it down here, its too cramped! Donatello : Perhaps you’re claustrophobic? Casey : Hey man, I never touched the guy! The kicker of the joke, is that Casey then leaves to go sleep in the cab of his pick-up truck. Once he gets there, he is making his bed the best he can. He tosses and turns for a bit, and then all of a sudden he rolls down one of the windows just a crack. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/17 "2014-03-28T13:43:25Z")
This is kind of the reverse, as the listener is still the one to misunderstand, but is more erudite than the speaker. So Guy A has been told all his life that he needs to go to Small City on the coast to fish during the scrod season. Best scrod in the world, but it’s practically a secret. So, after saving for years, he flies out to Small City for a fishing vacation. After deplaning and picking up his luggage, he hails the first taxi he sees, climbs in and tells the cabby, “I want you to take me to the best place to get scrod!” The cabby turns around, looks at him, and says, “mister, I been driving a cab for thirty years, and I ain’t never had anyone ask me to find them some tail using the pluperfect past tense.” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/18 "2014-03-28T14:29:36Z")
Morecambe and Wise: “Have you got the scrolls?” “No, I always walk like this.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/19 "2014-03-28T14:40:04Z")
A zombie worth reviving, if only to trot out the wonderful cabbie/scrod joke. The go-to example of this for me is Andy Dufresne asking the Shawshank warden: “Why do you have to be so obtuse?,” and getting a month in solitary for this awful insult. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084/20 "2014-03-28T15:33:27Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > The go-to example of this for me is Andy Dufresne asking the Shawshank warden: “Why do you have to be so obtuse?,” and getting a month in solitary for this awful insult. Uhm, “obtuse” is hardly a compliment. :dubious: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-common-misunderstanding-called/515084.md?page=2)