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I am looking for the term that describes the use of a certain word in a sentence in place of the correct one; a word that happens to look very similar to the one actually needed, but has a different meaning, and that, in turn, causes a big change in the meaning.

A little example: convolution and convulsion.

I know there is a word for this because I've read about it in Wikipedia, but forgot the term.

EDIT: Thank you all! The term I was looking for was malapropism.

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  • 'A mondegreen /ˈmɒndɨɡriːn/ is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near-homophony, in a way that gives it a new meaning.'{Wikipedia}
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Oct 11, 2015 at 15:32
  • Is this used in the sense of a joke, or accidentally?
    – Tyler Kropp
    Oct 11, 2015 at 15:32
  • It usually happens accidentally.
    – Frühling
    Oct 11, 2015 at 15:33
  • Ironically, I did this yesterday... I thought a cult classic was an occult classic
    – Tyler Kropp
    Oct 11, 2015 at 15:33
  • Thank you Edwin Ashworth, it was not Mondegreen, but through it I found the term I was looking for. It is called Malapropism.
    – Frühling
    Oct 11, 2015 at 15:37

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Maybe you are thinking of a Spoonerism?

Wikipedia describes this as a slip of the tongue where two letters or syllables get swapped between words. For example "God bless our queer old dean!" is a Spoonerism of "God bless our dear old queen!".

Not sure how reliable the Wikipedia article is. I would have thought a Spoonerism is any case when the wrong word is used to change (as opposed to destroy) the meaning of a sentence. And I'm not sure how widespread that interpretation of the word is.

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