Why Do "Aging" People Start Mispronouncing Words?

[Christine]

My parents are in their 60s. My dad is 67 and my mom is 62. My dad has been butchering words for years, but my mom is sharp as a tack. She works full-time, has a high pressure job, and is a career woman in all sense of the title! But, I've noticed over the last 2 years, she has started mispronouncing words here and there. She never used to do this--always very careful. Maybe my dad is rubbing off on her?

Anyway, this weekend I was talking about seeing the new movie, My Super Ex-Girlfriend. She said, "Oh, isn't that the movie with Erma Thurman in it?" I said "You mean UMA?" She was embarrassed and said "Yeah, Uma." Now, she KNOWS it's Uma. Granted, this is a weird name. But I've started to notice things like this.

I wonder when it's gonna happen to me.

 

[pearlieq]

I don't know, but MIL is doing the same thing. And she can't call anything by its correct name anymore.

Last time she was here she took an interest in Crocs, except she kept calling them "grogs". Over and over and over again.

I wonder what's going on with that...

 

[CathrynRose]

That is a really excellent question! I dont know....

My mom was no where near "old" but also began doing this too.

"Bill CAWsby" - Bill Cosby
"BOOfay" - Buffet (which she tried to tell me was the French pronounciation.... I told her I didnt care, that she sounded stupid, and everyone ELSE said BUFFay" )

 

[RealMickeysGirl]

My grandmother had a really weird one - and she knew it sounded weird but said it that way anyway. She said ernion for onion - like earn yun. She also used to put an r on the end of almost any proper noun that ended with a vowel. She lived on Linda lane but pronounced it LindeR.

My mom has always said apple like ipple, with a long I - I pul.

My mother in law has always said boofet - never let it bother me though.

 

[NMAmy]

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.

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.

 

[Christine]

Well, this is a relatively knew thing for my folks. My dad has been doing it for about 10 years, but I swear, he was normal in his 30s and 40s! My mom's things are more recent and, for now, fairly minimal. But this is a woman who was very precise in her speech before. In all other areas, she is SHARP, so I'm not worried about it. It also seems to happen with "odd" words or words that might be considered "new" to the older generation. I think she just didn't like saying "Uma" and "Erma" was more comfortable to her.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

My boss isn't exactly old but we always comment on how he prounances a few words, like film is filum (fill um) and selenoid is solonoid. My future FIL also says 'fill um' for film, maybe it's a guy thing. I can't say much though, I say melk instead of milk

 

[ead79]

My grandmother has taken to adding 's to all store names. I realize that some store names really are this way (like Macy's), but some of her most odd ones were Wal-Mart's, Target's, Ross's, etc. We have no idea why she does it, but if you point it out she gets it right once then immediately goes back to adding 's.

 

[caitycaity]

christine, my parents are also in their 60's and my mom recently started doing stuff like this too (and she never did before - she is an english teacher!!!). i have noticed her saying the wrong things more often as well (like calling me the name of her sister eventhough she knows it is me she is talking to). my mom is also the biggest worrier - she asked her doctor about it and the doctor just told her it was a normal part of aging and not signs of anything to be worried about yet.

 

[Galahad]

I'm not in my 60's yet and I don't care who Uma is, let alone how to pronouce her name.

 

[SDFgirl]

My father has been this way his entire life. I think it's some faulty wiring between his mouth and his brain. He's an exceptionally intelligent and educated man, but he says things "parbly" (instead of "probably") and "mayme" (instead of "maybe").

He calls their dog a "basket hound mix."

As for others, I think it's just part of the aging process. The brain ages just like the rest of the body. I think it's normal that memory and fluency are diminished over time.

 

[RadioNate]

Well, this is a relatively knew thing for my folks. My dad has been doing it for about 10 years, but I swear, he was normal in his 30s and 40s! My mom's things are more recent and, for now, fairly minimal. But this is a woman who was very precise in her speech before. In all other areas, she is SHARP, so I'm not worried about it. It also seems to happen with "odd" words or words that might be considered "new" to the older generation. I think she just didn't like saying "Uma" and "Erma" was more comfortable to her.

I notice it a lot with my Grandmother. I think it has something to do with their hearing. Now that I say that my dad and my uncle are both the same way and both have worse hearing than my grandmother.

My dad also does the 's thing. I find it really annoying. He doesn't notice that no one else is calling it by that name? Again, I think it is a hearing thing.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Lauri's mom is always starting a sentence and completely forgetting a key word before she gets to the end of it, usually making the who conversation completely confusing. Lauri, however, has a knack for knowing exactly what word she is dropping and fills in the blank for me.

She told her mom this weekend when she was visiting that having her there is like "having her own walking Password game" following her around."

 

[MomofKatie]

I think many times it has to do with hearing loss. Many seniors haven't gotten their hearing checked and have slight to moderate hearing loss. My Dad was in denial for several years before going to the audiologist. He now wears hearing aids in both ears, and his speech has improved. He was really mispronouncing words, and speaking too loud or too soft.

My Mom hears just fine, but she mispronounces a few words- just because she is funny that way . She always calls the big warehouse store "Cots-co"- I clued her in that it's "Cost-co" (i.e., it doesn't Cost alot to go to Cost-co), but she still says it wrong.

 

[mickeyfan2]

How about quessing a few of my grandmother's

tooberware
diyaseat?

 

[debknight]

tupperware?

diocese?

 

[Christine]

He calls their dog a "basket hound mix."

Okay, this one's funny!

 

[mickeyfan2]

tupperware?

diocese?

first is right but the second is wrong.

 

[ckay87]

DH has deliberately started mispronouncing words to be funny. It makes me so crazy, I can't describe it. I don't know why it bothers me so much - I think I'm a word person and I always feel that the way a person uses language, written or spoken, says something about their intelligence.

So DH starts asking me, for example, "you want to go to Wal-Smart?" That's a recent one. And I'm thinking, why do you want to deliberately make yourself sound stupid? (Actually I might have said this out loud.)

I don't know what causes older people to do this, but I agree that it happens. The adding of "Ss" to business names is so on target (eg., "K-Mart's)! I used to think it was just a PA Dutch thing. I don't know - maybe to make the business name possessive. Like "K-Mart" is the owner's name and that is his store???

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

diyaseat?

Is she trying to ask if you have eaten?