Solecism
- Solecism
A grammatical mistake, a blunder, or any deviation from correct idiom is, in English, termed a solecism. The word's history can be traced to the Greek city of Soloi in ancient Cilicia, which was in what is today southern Turkey.
Soloi was far removed from the Greek homeland. Because of the distance, the colonists developed a dialect of their own. When the snooty sophisticates back home paid a visit to Soloi, they were shocked to hear their mother tongue "debased" by corrupt dialect of Greek. The Greeks termed what they heard soloikos, meaning speaking incorrectly. The noun that evolved was soloikismos. Latin borrowed it as soloecismus, from which came the English word used today—solecism. That English word has immortalized the substandard form of Attic dialect.
Dictionary of eponyms.
Morton S. Freeman.
2013.
Synonyms:
Look at other dictionaries:
Solecism — Sol e*cism, n.[F. sol[ e]cisme, L. soloecismus, Gr. soloikismo s, fr. soloiki zein to speak or write incorrectly, fr. so loikos speaking incorrectly, from the corruption of the Attic dialect among the Athenian colonists of So loi in Cilicia.] 1.… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
solecism — SOLECÍSM, solecisme, s.n. Greşeală de sintaxă (neadmisă de normele limbii literare). – Din fr. solécisme, lat. soloecismus. Trimis de LauraGellner, 23.07.2004. Sursa: DEX 98 solecísm s. n., pl. solecísme Trimis de siveco, 10.08.2004. Sursa:… … Dicționar Român
solecism — index catachresis, irregularity, misuse Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
solecism — 1570s, from M.Fr. solécisme, from L. soloecismus mistake in speaking or writing, from Gk. soloikismos to speak (Greek) incorrectly, from soloikos ungrammatical utterance, properly a speaking like the people of Soloi, from Soloi, Athenian colony… … Etymology dictionary
solecism — *anachronism … New Dictionary of Synonyms
solecism — ► NOUN 1) a grammatical mistake. 2) an instance of bad manners or incorrect behaviour. DERIVATIVES solecistic adjective. ORIGIN Greek soloikismos, from soloikos speaking incorrectly … English terms dictionary
solecism — [säl′ə siz΄əm] n. [L soloecismus < Gr soloikismos < soloikos, speaking incorrectly, after Soloi, city in Cilicia, whose dialect was a corrupt form of Attic] 1. a violation of the conventional usage, grammar, etc. of a language;… … English World dictionary
Solecism — (Roget s Thesaurus) < N PARAG:Solecism >N GRP: N 1 Sgm: N 1 solecism solecism Sgm: N 1 bad grammar bad grammar false grammar faulty grammar Sgm: N 1 slip of the pen slip of the pen slip of the tongue Sgm: N 1 lapsus linguae lapsus linguae… … English dictionary for students
Solecism — [http://www.bartleby.com/81/15630.html Brewer s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ] explains solecism as follows:Misapplication of words; an expression opposed to the laws of syntax; so called from the city of Soli, in Cilicia, where an Athenian… … Wikipedia
solecism — UK [ˈsɒlɪˌsɪz(ə)m] / US [ˈsɑləˌsɪzəm] noun [countable] Word forms solecism : singular solecism plural solecisms formal 1) a mistake in the use of language 2) something that is not considered to be polite behaviour … English dictionary