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- Welcome to Ask the Editor.

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I'm Peter Sokolowski, editor at large at Merriam-Webster.

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With something as complicated and subtle

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as the English language, it's easy to make mistakes.

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So much so that we even have names

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for certain kinds of language errors.

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A malapropism, or malaprop,

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is an unintentionally funny misuse

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or distortion of a word or phrase

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that sounds somewhat like the intended one,

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but that is ludicrously wrong in context.

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These could be simple mistakes,

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like neon stockings,

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or polo bear.

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They may get funnier as the words get longer.

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Let me see your license and resignation.

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Or, my sediments exactly.

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Or, go get the fire distinguisher.

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The word, malaprop, comes from the dignified

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but language challenged character, Mrs. Malaprop

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in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's great comedy,

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The Rivals, from 1775.

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Malaprops are funny in part because they make no sense,

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as in Mrs. Malaprop's line from the play,

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"he can tell you the perpendiculars."

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But other mistakes may actually seem logical,

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or at least, logical enough,

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when somewhat plausible words

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replace misheard or misunderstood words,

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as in, blessing in the skies,

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or, in the mist of,

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and, for all intensive purposes,

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or, ex-patriot.

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Such accidents of language now have their own name,

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eggcorn, a term coined by professor Geoffrey Pullum

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on the linguistics blog, Language Log,

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having heard of its use in place of the word, acorn,

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acorns being somewhat egg-shaped.

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Keep your ears open for malaprops and eggcorns.

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We shouldn't take the careful use of language for granite.

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Watch for more videos at merriam-webster.com.