Ringoism

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A term to describe accidental, unusual, or poetic malapropisms, especially those said by Beatle Ringo Starr.

    "I had used it in In His Own Write, but it was an off-the-cuff remark by Ringo Starr, one of those malapropisms – a Ringoism – said not to be funny, just said. So Dick Leser said, ‘We are going to use that title,’ and the next morning I brought in the song. — John Lennon"

Example

More examples

"I had used it in In His Own Write, but it was an off-the-cuff remark by Ringo Starr, one of those malapropisms – a Ringoism – said not to be funny, just said. So Dick Leser said, ‘We are going to use that title,’ and the next morning I brought in the song. — John Lennon"

Etymology

From Ringo + -ism; penned by John Lennon of The Beatles in reference to the frequent malapropisms spoken by Ringo Starr, drummer of the Beatles. Possible pun on jingoism.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.