There seem to be a number of posts today in different threads about our spelling and grammatical laughers, and I thought of a friend of mine...not a Mudcatter, thank goodness... who has come up with some absolute classics.

The first time I heard her refer to "a Parisian rug", I chuckled a bit, but a few minutes later she used "a Fiat acomplis" to describe an event that had finished. At first I thought she must have been kidding, then I realised that her sense of humour didn't run in that area. A few weeks later at a party, she told of reading the riot act to her staff at work for their "grammical" errors! Most of the folks kept straight faces (while imagining the reactions of her staff) but her malaprops have become legendary.

I've known this person for a long time and have always been impressed with her drive, ambition, and the fact that she made it a point to "learn a new word" everyday. I think some kind of critical mass must have been reached though, and flubs like that (especially ones that ended up unintentionally hilarious) could really hurt her in the work place. So, throwing caution to the wind, I suggested one time that she "might be using some words the wrong way". Ohhhhh, did I get my come-uppance quickly...so I never mentioned it again. I thought of buying her a copy of a collection of Malaprops by famous celebrities like Sam Goldwyn, and Dan Quale, but figured she wouldn't get the connection....and I'd STILL be in trouble.

MY big social screw up is forgetting the names of people I've known for twenty years.......but I never forget what model of what brand of instrument they play!

Rick