Jan 26th – Family Circus: Scream and Screen

Hello everyone!

Today’s comic is Family Circus featuring an example of a malapropism.   Malapropisms are words that are similar in sound and spelling but do not share a meaning.

Comic Breakdown

“It’s called a scream door ’cause that’s where they scream at us to come in for dinner.” 

– Dolly to Jeffy

What is going on?

Dolly thinks the door is called a scream door because that is where her parents shout at her and her brothers when it is time to come inside to eat.

Dolly has misheard the name of the door.  The door is called a “screen door” and not a “scream door”.  This is an example of a malapropism.  Screen and scream sound very similar but do not mean the same thing.

Scream: This means to shout in excitement or if you are scared.

Screen: A screen is a fixed panel or area.  It is used to divide (separate) something or to block something but still allows one to see through it like a window.  A screen can be made out of plastic, glass or even out of a metal mesh. 

Why the screen door is called a screen door? 

A screen door is a door in which the top half or the entire door is made out of glass or a see through metal mesh.

To read more about malapropisms, click here, here, and here.

Today’s images are from here, here, here, and here.