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Word or phrase for clumsy, inaccurate expression


I'm seeking a word or phrase useful for referring to a bad sentence which clumsily, inaccurately and ambiguously attempts to express an idea or concept.


Bad-sentence example: "We do a multiplication of 60 of the 10^10 terms to get us to 10^600 and then a multiplication of 10^3 terms to reach 10^603."


Phrases incorporating 'mangled', 'tortured ', 'muddled' and 'still-born' may resemble what I want, but seem overly judgmental.


Update (Response to questions about example; with 'infelicity' and 'solecism' adopted from an answer)


Inaccurate -- The sentence (from a sci.math newsgroup posting by "AP") is inaccurate or misleading in first using the "multiplication of ..." infelicity one way for the (10^10)^60 calculation, and then a different way for the (10^600)*(10^3) calculation. That is, if the first case means (10^10)^60, the second might be thought to mean either (10^10)^(10^3) or (10^600)^(10^3).


Clumsy -- The solecisms "a multiplication of 60 of the 10^10 terms to get us to 10^600" and "a multiplication of 10^3 terms to reach 10^603" are longwinded and ambiguous ways to say "compute 10^600 as the 60th power of 10^10" and "compute 10^603 as (10^600)*(10^3)".



Answer



You might be looking for



solecism |ˈsäləˌsizəm, ˈsō-|
noun
a grammatical mistake in speech or writing.



or possibly



malaprop |ˈmaləˌpräp|(also malapropism )
noun
the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect, as in, for example, “dance a flamingo ” (instead of flamenco).



or perhaps my personal favorite



infelicity |ɪnfɪˈlɪsɪti|
noun ( pl. infelicities )
1 a thing that is inappropriate, especially a remark or expression: she winced at their infelicities and at the clumsy way they talked.



(All citations from NOAD.)


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