Malapropisms
| No. of Players: | 1+ |
| Type of Game: | written or spoken |
| What you need: | pen & paper or nothing |
Goal
To identify words incorrectly used.
How to play
A malapropism is the incorrect use of a word or phrase given its context, often resulting with humorous effect. Usually this is unintentional, but people can intentionally create malapropisms for their own or for others' amusement. Or a game can be had when a gamemaster writes down a series of malapropisms and the other players need to correctly identify them, with explanations if necessary. The first player to identify them all becomes the next gamemaster. Alternatively, gameplay can circulate around the circle of players. Each player speaks a malapropism to the player to his left, who then gets 10 seconds to correctly identify and explain the mistake if it is not obvious to everyone.
This word game is similar to Irish Bull and Misprints.
Example
The players sit in a circle.
| Andy: | Did you know the youth in Asia are calling for mercy killing of older folks? |
| Bette: | I think you mean 'euthanasia' because that is the calling for mercy killing. |
| Bette: | Oh Crimean River, Carol, this game isn't that bad. |
| Carol: | You meant to say 'cry me a river.' |
| Carol: | I set my sights on little old men. |
| Drew: | That's from a Judas Priest song. It actually goes 'I set my sights and then home in.' |
| Drew: | I can see clearly now, Lorraine is gone. |
| Evelyn: | That's that old Johnny Nash song. I thought that's how it goes... |
| Fredo: | It's actually 'I can see clearly now, the rain is gone.' But that's a mute point. |
And so on.
