Why Do "Aging" People Start Mispronouncing Words?

We've always teased my mom that we'll never know if she gets Alzheimers because the woman has never been able to call things by their correct names. I remember her getting REALLY angry at me when I was a kid when she told me urgently, "Go get the thing off the thing for me." When I looked at her blankly, she lost it. "YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!!!" Maybe in psychic world I do, lady, but I left my crystal ball in the other room. :lmao:

She's 75 now and I haven't really noticed her pronouncing things differently. She still doesn't know what normal everyday items are called though. Things, hickeydoos, thingamabobs--those she knows.

Well, what a nice zombie thread. My mom passed away a couple of years ago so it was nice to get a random memory of her out of the blue like that.
 
I don't care if you call me a zombie or try to insult me in any other way.

I survived Stage 3 cancer in 2014. I am thankful for that! So - call me whatever you wish. I am secure within myself that I am a wonderful person.

I participate in a group called Blast from the Past. We won 1st place medals in September! I am proud of who I am.

Realize one thing - - You are getting older every year. Someday you will be my age!
 

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I don't care if you call me a zombie or try to insult me in any other way.

I survived Stage 3 cancer in 2014. I am thankful for that! So - call me whatever you wish. I am secure within myself that I am a wonderful person.

I participate in a group called Blast from the Past. We won 1st place medals in September! I am proud of who I am.

Realize one thing - - You are getting older every year. Someday you will be my age!

Not sure what anything in this post has to do with bumping up a 9 year old thread. Nobody was insulting you, just pointing out the fact that the thread was 9 years old. And if you had already answered it the first time or noticed people who were dead posting, that is why. FWIW, I am probably your age or older.
 
My mom - in her 60's - also has a problem with mispronouncing some words. She is a very smart lady but a strange sounding word justs pops out of her mouth every now and then. The one that drives me the craziest is that she mispronounces my sons name. It is Alexander - she says it "ELLixander". I have corrected her numerous times but it's always the same.

LOL, maybe she's just channeling a Southern accent from a previous life. There is a town in Louisiana called Alexandria, which we natives pretty universally refer to as "Ellick"

Mostly this phenomenon happens as a symptom of hearing loss. However, I do know some folks who made a great effort to lose regional accents (or socioeconomic ones) when they were younger, but find themselves reverting to those pronunciations late in life. It's like that unconscious dinosaur part of your brain starts to reassert itself as you get older -- just like this dinosaur thread.
 
No. It was with the regular threads. I saw the topic & responded.

Perhaps I should have looked at the date - but I didn't. I admit to being in the twilight zone in answering an old thread. I am sorry.
 
Zombie thread or not, it is kind of interesting :duck: That, and I hadn't seen it before.

I have been saying stuff wrong just kind of as a joke. I have been going to "the Walmart's" and "the Aldi's". I even "worshed" some clothes today. :rotfl: I am going to be in real trouble if this becomes a habit.
 
Ancient, resurrected thread or not, wow, I'm kind of worried now after reading all these. I'm in my 60s and just retired for the second time in my life after 43 years of work and no one ever says I mispronounce or forget words nor do any similarly aged people around me! Even my Mom who is 87 only occasionally forgets a word for something. My DH, also in his 60s does have a severe hearing loss in one ear due to multiple ear infections; he doesn't mispronounce or forget names etc. though.

Another reason to check into hearing problems is ear wax. I have to get my ears cleaned every year. :rolleyes1
 
Wow, so I started this thread. I can't believe it was resurrected. The good news is that 9 years later, my parents are doing fine with their words. It never got any worse. Now, die Zombie, DIE!!!
 
I don't care if you call me a zombie or try to insult me in any other way.

I survived Stage 3 cancer in 2014. I am thankful for that! So - call me whatever you wish. I am secure within myself that I am a wonderful person.

I participate in a group called Blast from the Past. We won 1st place medals in September! I am proud of who I am.

Realize one thing - - You are getting older every year. Someday you will be my age!

I don't think anyone was picking on you. It's just something people will say when they see an old thread coming back to life. For those of us who've been around here for a long time, we can tell that a thread is old when we see people who haven't posted in a long time posting on the thread.
 
My mom isn't that old (50s), but she gets things wrong, and *hates* to be corrected, so there is nothing you can do. There is a place here in GA called Stone Mountain. My mom always calls it Stoney Mountain.

My FIL has hearing loss. Got hearing aids and won't wear them because he can hear everything, and it that takes getting used to.
 
A relative's mother's vocabulary started going downhill fast; everything was "that place" and "that thing" and "that person". Finally, she was diagnosed with Multi-Infarc Dementia. Eventually, her vocabulary got down to about 30 words and that was it.
 
When we were first married, I asked my husband to get me that thingy that's on the thing. What's really scary is he knew exactly what I was talking about. Now that I am in my 70's, I haven't noticed that I mispronounce any words. My daughter in law would be the first to tell me about it. She loves to tease me and I love it.
 



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