Saying the wrong word(s)

[Fortuosity]

I keep saying the wrong word(s). It's been a minor annoyance for awhile that seems to have gotten worse in recent weeks.

Back whenever it started, I didn't realize that I'd unintentionally say the wrong word sometimes when speaking to someone unless/until it was pointed out to me; however, in the past 1-2 months(?? really can't recall - memory ain't worth spit) or so I've become increasingly aware that although I may be thinking/meaning to say a particular word, what actually comes out of my mouth is something different -- Grr.

As far as I'm aware it's limited to just a single word within a given sentence at a time, but it can happen several times within a single day now.

Must be the "drain bamage."

Or maybe simply one too many hits with the snake (and I thought Tigger was rough 'n' tough).


At least I can still celery. That's the moon thing, right?

 

[pppiglet]

The same thing use to happen to me all the time. I don't notice it too much anymore. I try to slow down when I talk. I actually asked my doctor if my migraines could be killing brain cells and making me talk like that!

 

[SamRoc]

I have been having the same problem recently. I said to my son in a diner last week "You put a Brain in my head" instead of an "idea in my head" He really laughed at that one. And I called my Aunt a "Eucalpytus" Minister instead of a "Eucaristic" Minister.

 

[GoofieRuthie]

My DD13 does this all the time. I think she is trying to be impressive using a new word but she doesn't know how to use it. She does it a lot, but right now the only one that comes to mind is.....DH listens to heavy metal music, so he puts a song on in the car that is pretty hard. She listens for a few moments then says, "wow, that's pretty crucial!". What she was meaning, but didn't know the correct word to use, was BRUTAL.

 

[ConcKahuna]

I mess up words all the time, but it's because I'm dyslexic. I put the wrong one in the wrong place, I cant think of common words, and I produce "Word Vomit" (when 2 words mix together in my head then ejectthemselves from my mouth). When asked how I am, I have answered "Gort" (Good and great mixed). I went to say "Aloha" to someone the other day and instead said "Alohey" (think Jack from Will & Grace).

 

[pjlla]

Do you know the word you want to say and it just comes out wrong? Or are you struggling to find the right word? Or are you "vocabulary" challenged and frequently use words incorrectly? Not sure which you are indicating in your post.

I have a friend who constantly uses close, but incorrect words and it drives me a bit nutty! When she talks about going to an resort where everything is included, she calls it an "all-exclusive" resort (instead of all-inclusive). And she doesn't even seem to know that she is wrong. When she orders something from an internet store, she says that she bought it "off-line" instead of "on-line".........................P

 

[kilee]

I have a friend who constantly uses close, but incorrect words and it drives me a bit nutty! When she talks about going to an resort where everything is included, she calls it an "all-exclusive" resort (instead of all-inclusive). And she doesn't even seem to know that she is wrong. When she orders something from an internet store, she says that she bought it "off-line" instead of "on-line".........................

This is most of my in-law family. They don't have a very good vocabulary. They tend to use words that are close- but don't have the same meaning. I bite my tongue- but sometimes it's hard.

 

[Mickey&Donald]

My DD13 does this all the time. I think she is trying to be impressive using a new word but she doesn't know how to use it. She does it a lot, but right now the only one that comes to mind is.....DH listens to heavy metal music, so he puts a song on in the car that is pretty hard. She listens for a few moments then says, "wow, that's pretty crucial!". What she was meaning, but didn't know the correct word to use, was BRUTAL.

Actually, crucial may have been the word she was looking for. It's used as a slang term, when describing something really amazing.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

This is most of my in-law family. They don't have a very good vocabulary. They tend to use words that are close- but don't have the same meaning. I bite my tongue- but sometimes it's hard.

Ohhhhhhhh welcome to my world. This is my MIL. I always have a headache after I leave their house. Her latest word is for an antibiotic ointment you put on cuts: Neopolisporin.

 

[Traveliz]

Whenever I say the wrong word - I just think of it as the rolodex in my brain is spinning so fast it just stopped on the wrong word. I really think its a matter of just thinking thinking thinking and being so busy all the time.

Liz

 

[robinb]

Could it be menopause?

 

[SC Minnie]

I do that all the time now. I will be talking to DD about something and say a wrong word. Like the other night I asked him to put the chicken in the 'fridge' when it beeped. I meant the 'oven' when it beeped from preheating. But I know why I did it. I was walking past the fridge. I think my brain is working faster than my mouth. Yeah, that sounds good.

 

[MushyMushy]

Could it be menopause?

That's what I was going to ask -- that or perimenopause. I had the best vocabulary in the world (hyperbolically speaking ) but once I hit my mid-late thirties, I started having major brain farts.

(did you catch my misused word?)

 

[agnes!]

Hypthetically I'm not sure I did ...

agnes!

 

[luv2crash]

I picked my son up from football practice the other day and stopped at the local deli to get some dinner.

I told the girl at the counter that I was going to let them cook CIRCUS for me tonight instead of SUPPER. I just looked at her and said "Huh?" We both laughed but I really was embarassed.

This has happened a lot lately and I wonder if it early alzheimers or something.

 

[Fortuosity]

To all: Thanks for replying. I’m not going to respond to all the posts, but I have read them all.

Do you know the word you want to say and it just comes out wrong?

Yes. Initially I wouldn't even realize I'd said the wrong word. I'd think I said what I'd meant to say even when I actually hadn't. Lately, though, I'm usually catching that I've said the wrong word soon after I've said it. A few times I've realized at the last "second" that I might be about to say the wrong word, but the wrong word still came out (although when that's happened I could immediately clarify what I'd meant to say).

It's not 50-cent words (not that I'd know any, anyway) that are tripping me up. It's simple, common everyday-usage words that probably most any toddler could/would use. For example, perhaps I mean to say something like, "It's in the car." What actually comes out of my mouth may be something like, "It's in the shoe."

I can't say for certain, but I don't think I'm mixing up my parts of speech. I'm pretty sure I'm "substituting" right nouns for wrong nouns, right verbs for wrong verbs and so forth. Sometimes some sort of connection might be made between the words, but just as often the words seem completely unrelated to one another by any stretch of the imagination.

I'm not all that concerned about it, really. I'm more curious than anything, since this is "out of the norm" for me. It's merely a minor annoyance, and a tiny bit frustrating to find myself noticeably misspeaking in this manner.

(If any of the above is less than clear, I apologize.)

 

[jmb72]

I saw a movie about this, Fort. It's called Joe versus the Volcano. You have a brain cloud, I'm sure of it.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

thisis happening to both DH and I. For me, it could be migraines, thyroid, or peri-menopause. The thing that irks me is Dh won't own up to doing it!!! I will admit I prbably mis-spoke and feel bad - Dh will deny it to the point of blaming anyone else for the mistake......not fun!

I have kidded DD10 that she is going to have to becomae the eyes, memory, and brains for her poor aging parents...poor kid!!!!

 

[barkley]

i would suggest you speak to your doctor about it.

what you are describing can be the symptoms of 'aphasia'. aphasia is what often happens to people who have had tia's (mini strokes-no perm. brain damage, generaly the symptoms pass within 48 hours) or like me-have had full blown strokes. it can be caused by other issues as well.

for me i can struggle to find a word that's very common to my day to day vocabulary but for the life of me i can't remember it. i can also be talking and not even realize i've used the wrong word (or quite often i drop verbs). it gets very pronounced for me when i'm about to have a migrane-i don't feel any of the signs that one is coming on, but my family takes notice and alerts me to take my preventative meds.

i just think that alerting your doctor to this is a good idea-he/she may want to evaluate the situation to make sure it's not a symptom of something not yet apparant.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I do this too. Very often when I'm talking I say the wrong word...either one that's staring me in the face or I'll say a word with an opposite meaning of the word I was trying to say. It is frustrating for sure.

I figured it was perimenopause, but I suppose it could be the chronic migraines that I have.