Hello Andyson,
andyson:His use of hypocrisy is better termed a popular misconception wouldn't you say?
I agree that it could be better termed popular misconception or popular misusage because the Latin etymology of the word "misnomer" indicates the misapplication of a name.
I have a dictionary on my computer and it says that a misnomer is an "...unsuitable name or a term...," and the "term" part of the definition is what I was using when I used "misnomer," not necessarily the naming aspect of that definition. World English Dictionary says "term" too:
misnomer (ˌmɪsˈnəʊmə)
— n
1. an incorrect or unsuitable name or term for a person or thing
2. the act of referring to a person by the wrong name
[C15: via Anglo-Norman from Old French mesnommer to misname,from Latin nōmināre to call by name]
andyson: What is important in this forum, where the language is constantly butchered, is I understood his point.
I agree with this so much that I typed a couple extra paragraphs to state just that. I omitted them because I didn't want what I intended to be a polite and very helpful post to seem like a pedantic and patronizing screed.
I'll elaborate now.
I too understood him and believe conveyance of understanding is important no matter what collection of letters are used—formal English, slang, or some form of typoglycemia. Speaking elevated English to a toddler who barely understands how to count to ten and expecting him to understand would seem very silly to me—the audience matters.
However, I believe it is possible for high amounts of traffic to read these forums and get a misunderstanding, especially the English as a Second Language (ESL) demographic. ESL people may see this thread and then use that word (in its correct or misspelled form) elsewhere to refer to the idea of irony or other concepts, then it just keeps spreading like a virus all over the world.
And not necessarily others who read this specific thread, but other threads with other instances where the word "hypocrisy" is used to refer to concepts other than irony. There may be dozens of other ways people commonly utilize (i.e., intentional deviation from the standard without a misconception) or misuse the word "hypocrisy," but knowing exactly what the standard indicates a particular word actually represents/signifies helps vaccinate/immunize against a misusage taking up residence in the reader's mind. And, like I said, I wanted to combat the spread or propagation of that misusage and misconception.
If it is obviously pointed out that words are intentionally misspelled, as in typoglycemia, I believe there is little chance for one to mistake a misspelling for a correct spelling of a word. But, if the general perception (for the uninitiated, I know) is that words are being used properly in this forum, then a misconception can easily become epidemic (if it is not already epidemic).
And typoglycemia is almost useless if the reader doesn't even understand the correct spelling to begin with!
From my recollection, the misspelling of "hypocrisy" almost always accompanies a misusage of that word—a misusage that usually happens to accompany a misconception too. If people have actually looked up how to spell the word in a dictionary, then they would probably actually know the standard definition. But, I believe many people, especially young people, have only learned the meaning (i.e., the non-standard meaning) from sources other than a dictionary (e.g., forums, comment sections, chat boxes, social media, etc).
With mediums such as social media, lingual viruses can spread very far and very fast. That young toddler, who has now grown up, may have only seen the abundance of the misusage, which can reinforce in his mind the incorrect usage and can cause the correct usage to seem incorrect to him.
How many times has there been a miscommunication (not just with "hypocrisy") and no one knew that it occurred? We wouldn't know how many times because we didn't know it even occurred! This latent miscommunication can occur even when unambiguous syntax and pristine grammar are used—how much more has it occurred when both senders and receivers are habitually indifferent towards usage standards in sending and receiving their communications? A general lack of care for using language correctly is costly.
I know that I may make typographical errors and grammatical errors (especially in regards to esoteric grammar rules), as I know that I haven't done rigorous formal study of grammar and I mainly rely on the writing of those who I believe have done such study to learn grammar rules. However, I diligently intend to do my best, not just to look good, but also to help the ESL demographic. When I study another language, I want to believe native speakers are trying their best too. And when I do make mistakes, I want them to stand out blatantly against a solid background of correct usage, not correct usage standing out against a background of misusage
My intent was to politely bring awareness to the popular misusage and correct usage of "hypocrisy" and "irony." And it is also my intent to bring awareness to the healthy use of language in general because that too is important to people in this forum.
I hope this helps,
JMan
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Some informative links: [1] [2]