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Malapropisms Quiz

These phrases are incorrect. Type the word that should be used for the phrase have the intended meaning.
Malapropism: the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect
Quiz by Quizzer6794
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Last updated: October 7, 2019
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First submittedJune 6, 2015
Times taken26,862
Average score70.0%
Rating4.17
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Malapropism
Correct Word
The city had to be evaporated
due to the large storm
Evacuated
I have a photogenic memory
Photographic
Everyone at the office has
their own cuticle
Cubicle
He's a wolf in cheap clothing
Sheep's
This vinegar is too Hasidic!
Acidic
She's a flamingo dancer
Flamenco
Drake was the first Englishman
to circumvent the globe
Circumnavigate
Lead the way as we precede
Proceed
It's a mute point
Moot
Darwin is perhaps history's
most famous naturist
Naturalist
Malapropism
Correct Word
The facts that I eluded to earlier
Alluded
A crab is a crushed Asian
Crustacean
The court had wonton
disregard for the law
Wanton
That explanation doesn't jive
with the evidence
Jibe
He negotiated a constipation
package at his new job
Compensation
She felt ambiguous about the job offer
Ambivalent
The life of man is nasty, British, and short
Brutish
Wikipedia is a suppository of knowledge
Repository
The errors were exasperated
by poor communication
Exacerbated
This text is chalk full of mistakes
Chock
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101 Comments
Jerry928
+25
Level 76
Dec 2, 2015
You won't hear "jibe" used that way outside the United States.
redsplat
+7
Level 73
Dec 7, 2015
Agreed. Boo.
grantdon
+6
Level 75
Jan 19, 2016
Yes you will - or someone has mangled the expression
DeusCaritasEst
+8
Level 55
Jan 19, 2016
Agreed; I had no idea what word was wanted there. I knew it wasn't "jive", but I knew no other word that sounded remotely similar that could take its place.
alexthegreat38
+1
Level 52
May 21, 2024
Yeah, I got all the others fairly easily but was totally at a loss for that one. Apparently the malapropism of "jive" is so widespread that it captured my brain.
Berney
+9
Level 83
Jan 21, 2016
Yes you will. I'm British and have always known it to mean "to agree with" which is also what the dictionary says.
JonOfKent
+1
Level 58
May 22, 2024
Collins says "mainly US". I've never heard it before, but - well - I've learnt something new!
DonTheLamplighter
+6
Level 86
May 21, 2017
People in the US who've never heard the word "jibe" have simply heard other people incorrectly using "jive". For at least 40 years (or more) I've known it was "jibe" and that it meant "to agree with".
HydratedMite
+3
Level 67
Mar 20, 2024
I haven't heard it used inside the United States.
Alexquiz17
+1
Level 93
Jun 30, 2024
It stems from sailing - to jibe means to turn the boat’s stern through the wind (the opposite of tacking) and requires timing and coordination to prevent capsize.
Koopa
+1
Level 83
Oct 17, 2024
Exactly why it is a malapropism. I "knew" it as jive for years, until I discovered I had been saying it wrong all that time.
Akula
+9
Level 79
Dec 3, 2015
Hilarious quiz this one, chucked all the way through!
Quizzer6794
+5
Level 66
Dec 4, 2015
Don't worry, I died too. I spent around 10 minutes actually reading the page below; was too busy cracking up. I got these from this site, it's funnier reading the full sentence.
redsplat
+2
Level 73
Dec 7, 2015
Yes. Very odd visuals :P
Jerry928
+1
Level 76
Jan 19, 2016
Any chance of photoshopping a dancing flamingo into the picture of the señora?
DonTheLamplighter
+1
Level 86
May 21, 2017
Yep, great quiz!!
RJF
+1
Level 65
Oct 24, 2022
It's very difficult to type when you're laughing that hard. 😂😂
buck1017
+7
Level 78
Dec 3, 2015
Today's quiz brought to you by George W. Bush.
Quizzer6794
+4
Level 66
Jan 19, 2016
*Dubya
MayaB
+11
Level 73
Dec 3, 2015
Anyone else thinking of Joey's "moo point"? :D
mwierenga
+1
Level 88
Dec 3, 2015
Yes.
SinginDiva721
+1
Level 69
Dec 8, 2015
I thought exactly that when I got to that question. lol
sillie
+9
Level 76
Dec 3, 2015
Shouldn't "depository" be accepted as well? - Great quiz otherwise, especially when you know exactly what the wrong word is, but can't think of the real one. The only one I really didn't know was "jive".
loganite
+2
Level 92
Jan 19, 2016
Yes, I tried depository too. Since people are allowed to write articles and edit, I think depository should be accepted.
BenHerman
+1
Level 69
Jun 23, 2018
+1
JackintheBox
+1
Level 80
Oct 6, 2019
Yes. I also tried depository.
Carnelian
+2
Level 50
May 19, 2024
When I typed in depository it accepted it but changed what it to repository.
azteque316
+3
Level 70
Dec 29, 2015
Too difficult for me as a Francophone... Got only 7/20 and zero point for that quiz..
yankeh
+16
Level 59
Jan 19, 2016
I'm just glad Drake didn't circumcise the globe!
Bonzo65
+5
Level 72
Oct 6, 2019
...in his 40 foot cutter.
Chestnuthare
+3
Level 67
Jan 19, 2016
I heard Hiroshima was filled with crabs after the bomb.

Super dark, sorry

Elan
+1
Level 66
Jan 19, 2016
No offense, but I pity anyone who would make those mistakes.
kimanguri
+3
Level 61
May 18, 2024
without them, we don't have this quiz
kalbahamut
+7
Level 81
Jan 19, 2016
This is a good idea for a quiz but I think it could have been executed better. The large majority of these phrases are things I have never heard uttered. On the other hand... I have heard people say some of these things routinely:

chomping at the bit

hunger pains

I should of studied grammar

I could care less

etc etc... there are tons of these in very common usage. A quiz on the subject would be cool.

I've also heard about Drake circumcising the globe before... with a large clipper.

Jerry928
+2
Level 76
Jan 19, 2016
Hunger pains is fine. Isn't it? (he asked with doubt creeping into his voice) Or have I malapropped my whole life on that one? And if all my mates say that too, which they do, how many malaproppers does it take before it becomes the new normal?
ander217
+6
Level 75
Jan 19, 2016
I always thought it was hunger pangs.
Jerry928
+12
Level 76
Jan 19, 2016
Oops, sorry. I remember now, Hunger Pains is the movie with the girl who shoots arrows and stuff.
YamatoFans
+11
Level 70
Jan 22, 2016
No, Hunger Panes is a movie about an unemployed glazier.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 81
Oct 6, 2019
It's pangs not pains that is the common expression.
jennraven
+1
Level 67
Oct 6, 2019
The movie is Hunger Games, lol
Quizzer6794
+2
Level 66
Jan 19, 2016
Thanks, maybe a #2 would be nice.
ColoHarpare
+2
Level 50
Mar 6, 2016
Check out the Eggcorn Database for ideas....it's a site devoted to hunting down this sort of thing.
samiamco
+8
Level 68
Jan 24, 2017
I don't think the point was necessarily to replicate phrases in common use (the term "malapropism" just as validly refers to a single word as it does to an entire phrase); I think the point was that Quizzer6794 wanted to see if he could MAKE US SPEW OUR BEVERAGES OUT OUR NOSES AND ALL OVER OUR SCREENS and give us asthma attacks from laughing hysterically! And may I just say, mission accomplished. The visuals that popped into my head (Darwin running around stark naked, jurors and court officers flinging around Chinese dumplings, a canine lupus wearing a gold lamé sweatsuit), or the realization that a couple are already true just the way they are (everyone in any office does have at least one cuticle of their very own, Wikipedia really *is* a suppository of knowledge) had me in friggin' STITCHES. Yes, please make more of these, Quizzer6794, but make them just like this one! I'm even inspired to try my hand at one. This was among my top 3 or so favorite JetPunk quizzes ever. Kudos!
Fifteen
+2
Level 27
Jul 13, 2019
Agreed fully
Quizzer6794
+1
Level 66
Oct 6, 2019
Really glad to hear it :D
jmellor13
+6
Level 67
Oct 6, 2019
"I could care less" always really rankles me. There may also be an interesting quiz on expressions that were once wrong, but became correct through widespread usage, like "boldface lie," which used to be a malapropism of "baldface lie," or the word "momentarily," which means "for a moment," but is so frequently and incorrectly used to mean "in a moment" that its meaning has almost changed by consensus. By the dictionary definition, "I'll be with you momentarily" means "I'll be with you for a moment before I leave," but of course everyone understands it to mean "I'll be with you in a minute."
AbiA
+3
Level 87
Jan 23, 2023
And perpetuated by Professor McGonagall in the first Harry Potter film. I could never understand how that got past JK Rowling.
bdp8
+2
Level 34
Oct 6, 2019
If we're defining 'malapropism' as 'an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound', then I wouldn't consider 'chomping at the bit' one of them. Probably more appropriate to think of it as an accepted variant of 'champing at the bit', since there's no substantial change in the idiom's meaning.
ander217
+2
Level 75
Jan 19, 2016
I never heard the Brutish expression before. I looked it up, and I never heard of Hobbes or Leviathan, either. It sounds like dry reading material, but thanks for teaching me something new today.
Quizzer6794
+1
Level 66
Jan 19, 2016
Always :)
RuthlessCosmo
+1
Level 75
May 18, 2024
One of Hobbes' friends (and his first biographer) reports that Hobbes was six feet tall. We also know that he lived to the age of 92. He appears to have lived comfortably most of his adult life, enjoying the patronage of rich sponsors.

So while he was British and may have been nasty (he wrote in favor of authoritarian rulers, having spent much of the English Civil War in self-imposed exile), he was neither solitary, poor nor short.

scf
+4
Level 41
Jan 19, 2016
Could "ambitious" work instead of ambivalent for ambiguous, too? I get it that ambivalent is nearer to the malapro..priated (?) 'ambiguous' in meaning, but since this is not the case for the other words in that quiz (say constipation package), I don't see why it shouldn't work (unless, of course, it's gramatically wrong, in that case please ignore my suggestion, I'm not a native speaker).

I could also see someone mistaking ambitious for ambiguous more easily than ambivalent, at least if you're going with the "similar-ish sounding, different meaning" theme like you did with the rest of the words. Ambiguous and ambivalent share a meaning (sort of), the rest of the words does not share a meaning, just some phonetic resemblance.

ColoHarpare
+3
Level 50
Mar 6, 2016
I *am* a native speaker, and this was the only one I missed! I also tried "ambitious"...

And she COULD have been "ambiguous" about a job offer, if she were the one offering a job to someone...I had no idea what was needed here. Not a complaint, just a comment.

JDWI
+3
Level 44
Jan 19, 2016
You forgot "Irregardless" when people either mean "regardless" or "irrespective". And "unthaw" for "Thaw".

Good quiz though!

Fifteen
+4
Level 27
Jul 13, 2019
Unthaw? People say that? Ouch
Kirkulese
+1
Level 62
Apr 1, 2021
Irregardless of how you may feel about the spelling, it was accepted as acceptable by the folks at Webster's in 2020. Just one more crazy thing in a relatively insane year.

I did not that your post predated the change.

Moos1005
+3
Level 86
Mar 22, 2022
"You forgot" like this quiz claims to be a complete essay about the topic...
JonOfKent
+1
Level 58
May 22, 2024
Yes, or "de-thaw", which seems to be a bit of a thing in my family
Flutel
+3
Level 46
Jan 19, 2016
We all know that Tony Abbott is the suppository of all knowledge
cosmokim
+1
Level 68
Jan 19, 2016
Repository!
cosmokim
+1
Level 68
Jan 19, 2016
Look at the malapropism!
stone222
+1
Level 48
Oct 12, 2018
are you questioning Flutel ? clearly you are not Australian
mushroomsteve
+1
Level 52
Feb 6, 2016
This reminds me of the Stop the Boats game. "No one is the suppository of all wisdom."
mushroomsteve
+1
Level 52
Nov 5, 2016
I really should have posted the link... here it is:

http://www.abbottsimulator.com/

Quizzer6794
+1
Level 66
Nov 5, 2016
x50 :D
xtremeyoylecake
+2
Level 48
Oct 20, 2023
Nahhhh accoding to my teachers, wikipedia is pretty inadiquite
JandGquizconnection
+2
Level 40
Jan 20, 2016
This may be more relevant to a US audience so I won't complain too much... but form the UK, this was poor
JonOfKent
+1
Level 58
May 22, 2024
Only the jibe one, shurely? The rest are all common in British English, I'd say
Somequiztaker
+1
Level 79
Jan 21, 2016
I kept thinking of the old Frank and Ernest comics while doing this one.
Liopleurodon
+2
Level 66
Jan 24, 2016
I can not for the love of god spell repository
Liopleurodon
+3
Level 66
Jan 24, 2016
PS: Is it bad that I put sadistic instead of acidic for the vinegar one at first?
Quizzer6794
+4
Level 66
Jan 24, 2016
xtremeyoylecake
+2
Level 48
Oct 20, 2023
Blank comment!!!
beccimoo
+4
Level 56
Jun 1, 2016
Nearly ran out of time because I couldn't stop laughing! Crushed Asian.....
Eigengrau
+2
Level 60
Oct 6, 2019
lmao me too.
Remymer
+1
Level 15
Jan 15, 2018
2:16 left :P
IsleAuHaulte
+2
Level 91
Jul 5, 2018
Wikipedia IS a suppository of knowledge.
Conradd23
+1
Level 58
May 20, 2024
Do you read it with your butt?
mikeb
+5
Level 65
Oct 6, 2019
One you hear all the time: "calvary" for "cavalry".
teke
+2
Level 65
Oct 6, 2019
A lot of gems here, but I've been told that Drake circumcised the globe.
FrankAb
+2
Level 61
Oct 6, 2019
Couldn't depository work for the Wikipedia one as well?
sneakattack6254
+2
Level 52
Oct 7, 2019
Liz: It's just that with Ed here, it's no wonder I always bring my flatmates out, and then that only exacerbates things.

Shaun: What you mean?

Liz: Well, you guys hardly get on, do you?

Shaun: No, I mean, what does 'exacerbate' mean?

Liz: Um, it means to make things worse.

MrsNesbitt
+2
Level 43
Oct 7, 2019
Now add one for Initialism vs acronym. This is one I see/hear people misuse the most often.
EytanMelech
+6
Level 67
Apr 5, 2020
To be fair, I have had Kosher vinegar that is way too Hasidic for my liking.
TimFed
+1
Level 75
Jan 24, 2022
If you do a #2 please include a quote from Archie Bunker. One of my favorites - "I don't believe in no religion where the head guy says he's inflammable".
PoetsCorner
+2
Level 87
Oct 23, 2022
Whew! Had a helluva time trying to spell crustacean.
DawnX
+1
Level 54
Apr 4, 2023
its so hard when some of the words sound the same and some dont even sound similar
xtremeyoylecake
+1
Level 48
Oct 17, 2023
As somebody who frequently gets Malapropisms, I really live this quiz (True story)
kimanguri
+1
Level 61
May 18, 2024
this quiz has had a great affect on the site! it's done very good obviously
theenforcer22
+1
Level 68
May 18, 2024
Full marks for The Robbster.
HyddenRizz
+3
Level 67
May 19, 2024
Can someone explain why someone would have a compensation package at a new job? I couldn't work out this at all!

I get that if you leave I job you may get some redundancy pay etc. but I'm lost at to what a new company may compensate you for.

Sifhraven
+1
Level 74
Apr 13, 2025
Yea I had no idea what they were looking for with this one. There are much more obvious sentences to make with the word compensation, and would people really accidentally say constipation? Seeing as it is nearly guessed least often, a replacement might be an idea. I sure there are more than plenty of malapropisms too chose from
undeadwarrior
+2
Level 65
May 19, 2024
Please delete the "jibe" one - it's something no one outside of the states has ever heard of (jibe????? Really?) and edit the compensation one.

Who gets compensation when they START a job?

Sifhraven
+1
Level 74
Apr 13, 2025
I am Dutch and even I got it right... So at least one person has heard of it..

But yea I don't get the compensation one either, I think more people might get constipation haha, nervous about the first day in a new place or they are one of those people that can't go to the toilet in public, so they ask for a special arrangement. (extra time to go home to go to the toilet?) . Who knows!

Rozzi
+2
Level 61
May 19, 2024
I have always understood jibe to mean to mock someone - and that's what my Oxford English dictionary says. The usage in this quiz must be solely American I think. Perhaps it could be changed to something with a more universal meaning?
Goggynoggler
+1
Level 56
May 19, 2024
I'm American and I've never heard "jibe" used like it is in this quiz. Also, even if it can be used in that sentence, it isn't a malapropism because one of the definitions of "jive" is "to be in accord with" which makes sense in that sentence. I think it should definitely be changed.
NapoleonHitler
+1
Level 32
May 19, 2024
i felt like ricky gettin two birds stoned at once
Calliope
+1
Level 44
May 20, 2024
This quiz is messing with my brain. I read the word photogenic and all other words starting with "photo-" evaporated from my mind. I genuinely managed to come up with "photoscopic" before I remembered the word photographic existed.
KevinFlynn36
+1
Level 48
May 20, 2024
Great quiz! Now how do I get all my coworkers to take it? :)
Sifhraven
+1
Level 74
Apr 13, 2025
Give them a constipation package..
Alexquiz17
+1
Level 93
Jun 30, 2024
Crushed Asians and overly kosher vinegar?

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