Why Do "Aging" People Start Mispronouncing Words?

[mickeyfan2]

Is she trying to ask if you have eaten?

 

[thewishfire]

I know several people who pluaralize business names, and it drives me nuts! For some reason "Barnes & NobleS" seems to get me the worst. Possibly it's because of the love affair I have with that store!

I've also known/know people who say 'melk' instead of milk, and 'buzz' instead of bus.

 

[tigerdragon]

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.

 

[mt2]

I think as we age our bodies change. Think of when we (girls) started developing. The hormones were turning on. (I'm going thru this now with my DD).

When we age our hormones turn off. This effects many areas of our bodies. Memory is one of them. Thank goodness we stop having our periods because I would have killed my DM by now and I would have to hear her mispronunciation.

It is a part of life I'm seeing with my parents too. I'm now noticing that they will not live forever like I thought as a child.

 

[KimR]

I have a neighbor who un-pluralizes things, for example: 'Linen and Things'. Alqueburque instead of Albequerque and dehybrated instead of dehydrated are two other of her more memorable ones. She's not even what I would call 'aging' - she is in her 50s so maybe she's always done this.

The funniest I've heard though is courtesy of DH's grandmother: she told us that when she was younger before she started to go grey her hair was brown with red pygmies in it.

 

[kmebee]

My DM's husband (not my dad, but very dear to me) says main-tain-ence instead of maintenance. Like the second syllable is long vowels just like the first one. There is another one that makes me nuts but I can't think of what it is for some reason right now.

 

[Feralpeg]

Well, it just happens. I find myself doing that. I'm 54. When I was about 50, I noticed that I was having a much harder time remembering names of people that I've known for years. I was really worried about it and asked a friend who is about 8 years older than me. He just started laughing and told me to get used to it. My sister is the same way. She is 56.

I asked the doctor about it and he said it is just a natural part of the aging process. Without going into great detail, the mind just isn't what it was before. Things take longer to process.

Please be patient with your aging parents. You too will experience this someday unless medical science makes some incredible breakthroughs!

 

[Christine]

Well, it just happens. I find myself doing that. I'm 54. When I was about 50, I noticed that I was having a much harder time remembering names of people that I've known for years. I was really worried about it and asked a friend who is about 8 years older than me. He just started laughing and told me to get used to it. My sister is the same way. She is 56.

I asked the doctor about it and he said it is just a natural part of the aging process. Without going into great detail, the mind just isn't what it was before. Things take longer to process.

Please be patient with your aging parents. You too will experience this someday unless medical science makes some incredible breakthroughs!

I know...I'm 42 and even now I'm starting to notice "little" things. I don't feel as mentally quick as I used to. God, just the other day my BIL called and wanted to reach my husband. I said here, let me give you his phone number, and I absolutely could not remember it. It even took me awhile for it to come to me. I'm sure my BIL was thinking, man, she's getting old (my BIL is 26). I guess the word butchering is next!

 

[DawnCt1]

The obvious answer is, they want to see if the rest of us are paying attention!

 

[NMAmy]

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.

This was the case with my dad. He kept insisting that I was mumbling. "How can anyone understand you when you mumble all the time?" There was something about the tone of my voice that he couldn't hear when he first started losing his hearing. Since he could hear my mom just fine (who has a deeper voice), he was sure it was me. What also clued me in was that he'd have the tv just blasting. Guess those people on tv are mumblers, too!

 

[malificentsman]

Now lets not pick on old people, if you wanna hear mispronounced words turn a rap song on. Worf, birfday are obviously words nowadays!

 

[Jingle]

I know a woman at work who mispronounces many words. In particular, she has told me several times about her dorsal (docile) dog.

 

[Talking Hands]

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.

They may have a hearing loss. THis is common in people in their 50's and 60's. The loss is not enough for them to think they have one but enough for others to notice mispronounciations and mistakes in understanding. They speech read, usually pretty well, but since only 25% is readible on the lips much of it is guess work from context. Encourage them to have their hearing checked.

 

[lyzziesmom]

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.

OMG, I read your post and thought my mom must have had another child I didn't know about! That describes my mother to a T... except she is in her early 50's. I always ask her "How are we gonna know?" as in, how are we going to know when she has Alzheimer's & it's time to put her in the home?!?

I used to play a game with my mom... can you be more vague? She would say, "Go in the other room and get the thing off my desk" and I would say, "I'm sorry, I don't understand that, can you be more vague?" The correct phrasing would be, "Go over there and get the thing off the thing."

 

[TnKrBeLlA012]

This is so funny. My sister and I are always laughing about the way my 62yr. mom mispronounces so many words. We were just laughing about it when I read this post. I'm not sure why she does it but sometimes it is a little annoying. I had to correct her three times on the name of one of my daughter's friends. She said it three different ways?? I didn't realize this was so common.

 

[jennyl772003]

My grandma called WalMart, WalMart. But KMart was always KMarK. I never understood that. We always gave her a hard time. She had a few others, but I can't remember them right now. She wasn't even that old!

 

[FranP]

My uncle (age 86) has been doing t his for a long time, and my mom always made fun of him. Now, however, she's starting to do it too - that is funnier than the words (mostly names of stores, etc.) that she butchers.

 

[Laurajean1014]

Could it be that she may have had a very minor stroke?

Or maybe she realize that she just doesn't give a crap how UMA wants to call herself. She's in her 60's and she's not changing for anyone!

 

[sameyeyam]

Might be worth it to suggest that older people (or any age person for that matter!) have a checkup with a doctor if they start misprounouncing words. Might not be anything, maybe the beginning of a hearing loss, but then again it could save a life.

 

[PeterPanette]

Maybe they're all just trying to keep their dentures in their mouths and are therefore opening their mouths to a lesser degree when talking.

Think about it....Uma....Erma...With Erma, you barely have to open your lips. Alexander ....ELLixander...same thing.

I'm only 42, but I highly suspect that my sons have had this same "what's wrong with her speech?" discussion. Only I don't have the loose dentures excuse.