When we enjoyed words from slip of the tongue…!!!

Slips of the tongue are almost inevitable sometimes when we want to speak hurriedly or suddenly to express our view. While we speak for others, otherwise there is no necessity to speak.

It is said that for every 1000 words spoken, we make one or two errors. Considering that the average pace of speech is 150 words a minute, a slip is bound to occur about once every seven minutes of continuous talk.

I have also seen those who are in the habit of slipping of tongue frequently and stammering in their voice, they sing very well without any interruption. In fact, slip of the tongue is something that you said by mistake and it has now become a famous phrase.

The reality is that speech errors occur because when it comes to talking, the mind cares much more about speed than it does about accuracy.

We literally speak before we are done thinking about what we are going to say, and this is true not just for the more sudden amongst us, but for all speakers, all of the time. Speech production really is like an assembly line, but an astoundingly frenzied one in which an incomplete set of blueprints is snatched out of the hands of the designers by workers eager to begin assembling the product before it is fully sketched out.

Unfortunately, lack of knowledge about the complicated process of language production can easily lead people to jump to false conclusions about the underlying causes which is an unintentional error regarded as revealing subconscious feelings and so-called “Freudian slips.”

For example, in 2007, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was taken to task for confusing the names “Obama” and “Osama” and suffered accusations of deliberate political fear-mongering.

In 2006, radio broadcaster Dave Lenihan lost his job over inadvertently uttering a racial slur while discussing the prospect of Condoleezza Rice as commissioner for the National Football League. Lenihan later claimed that he was aiming to say ‘coup’ and mispronounced the word as ‘boon’.

Frankly speaking, I recalled an incident when a group of ten people had gone for a cycle expedition from Chandigarh to Haridwar and back. On the way, just at the start of the journey when we had just crossed Zirakpur towards Ambala, I started the discussion that God has the account of everyone which he may call at any time to decide the fate of any person. The moment I was sharing my views my tongue slipped while uttering this line – Rab ne mangaya khota, Oh! Dear, khota nahi khata – God called for the ass, Oh! Dear, not ass but khata (account). Really, sometimes words slip from the tongue and become popular among the friends’ circle and are used frequently on certain occasions – either to irritate or enjoy the moments. I have also observed that some people mock over the slip of the tongue, which is very unkind as a slip of the tongue is no fault of the mind. Anyhow, that was a memorable cycle expedition.

Over to your tongue as the body pays for a slip of the foot and gold pays for a slip of the tongue.