solecism |
American Heritage Dictionary (3 definitions)
- A nonstandard usage or grammatical construction.
- A violation of etiquette.
- An impropriety, mistake, or incongruity.
–noun
Century Dictionary (5 definitions)
GNU Webster's 1913 (2 definitions)
WordNet (1 definition)
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For this reason, also, no solecism is incurred, suppose any one asks, ‘Is a thing what you say it to be?’
If ever some form of words once thought to be a solecism is taken to have become part of Standard English, then all is lost.
"This was given to my wife and I as a wedding present" will be shared by many especially when the solecism is foisted in stage and TV performances upon authors who did not use it (as in the TV production of Jane Austen's Emma, in which Emma is made to say "between Miss Fairfax and I," where the text, chapter 24 has me).
Again, to use our old solecism, that is the lesser part of the truth; the greater part, for men of religion, is that Jesus is of God, that He belongs to Him.
For what is called a solecism is nothing else than the putting of words together according to a different rule from that which those of our predecessors who spoke with any authority followed.
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Pronunciations
/ (sŏlˈĭ-sĭzˌəm, sōˈlĭ-)/
ahd pronounces "solecism"
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Etymology
American Heritage Dictionary (1)
-
Latin soloecismus, from Greek soloikismos, from soloikizein, to speak incorrectly, from soloikos, speaking incorrectly, after Soloi (Soli), an Athenian colony in Cilicia where a dialect regarded as substandard was spoken.
Century Dictionary
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