Misnomer - Definition and Overview
A
misnomer
is an incorrect or misleading name for a thing. They are often
idiomatic
.
Examples
Comic books
are illustrated stories of any genre or tone, not necessarily funny.
Dry cleaning
often uses fluid such as
naphtha
, making clothes wet.
The "
lead
" in modern
pencils
is made of
graphite
and
clay
, not lead.
Koala bears
are
herbivorous
marsupials
, unrelated to the
carnivorous
bear
family.
Chinese checkers
is not
Chinese
(or even Asian) in origin.
Peanuts
are
legumes
, not
nuts
.
The
Liberal Democratic Party
of
Japan
is not a liberal party.
The
fundamental theorem of algebra
is really a theorem of
analysis
, not of algebra.
Compare with
malapropism
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