Dundrearyism

plural Dundrearyisms

1. A twisted and consequentially nonsensical aphorism.

   Like the argot once confined to a class, some of his phrases have become part of the general idiom. A Dundrearyism can be recognized as soon as uttered, like an Irish bull.

   1878 October 1, John Oxenford, “Lord Dundreary”, in The Theater: A Monthly Review and Magazine, volume 1, London: Wyman & Sons, pages 198–199

   2 more examples

   A typical illustration is the case cited years ago, half in joke, perhaps, half in earnest, by a distinguished professor of obstetrics. It occurred in the days when the elder Sothern was playing Lord Dundreary to crowded houses and when Dundrearyisms were the current witticisms and Dundreary ties and Dundreary clothes and Dundreary whiskers were all the rage.

   1912, James Joseph Walsh, Psychotherapy, New York: D. Appleton and Company

   Many of the play's screwball terms, like “sockdologizing” and “Dundrearyisms” (named for the befuddled character Lord Dundreary), have become part of the cultural lexicon, and several spinoff plays featuring characters from the show have been written and performed.

   [2011, Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard, Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever, Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN

   Synonyms: malaphor