- This term was coined to fulfill a necessity for an action that formerly did not have a name. It is most often used to refer to when a person overcompensates for promising to give up a vice in the future, by overindulging in the vice in the present. This term is an analogy for ‘relapse,’ which is ‘the act of falling back into the habit of a vice after a period of improvement.’ Prelapse uses the metaphor for falling back or slipping back into a chronic vice.
Prelapse
noun; derivation; analogy
The act of indulging or overindulging in a vice immediately before promising to give up that vice completely.
Etymology : This term is an analogy of the term ‘relapse’ by replacing the prefix ‘re-’ with the prefix ‘pre-.’ ‘Lapse’ comes from M.Fr. ‘laps’ meaning ‘slip of the memory,’ and from L. ‘lapsus’ meaning ‘a slipping and falling, falling into error.’ The prefix ‘pre-’ comes from O.Fr. ‘pre-’ and M.L. ‘pre-,’ both originating from L. ‘præ-,’ meaning ‘before.’
Source : Conversation with a friend “He promised to give up junk food for the rest of the semester, starting next week. As a result, he is going to prelapse for the rest of the week, eating tons of candy and chips.
Last modified: 3 December 2008