A.Word.A.Day --Freudian slip

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Freudian slip

PRONUNCIATION:

(FROI-dee-uhn slip)

MEANING:

noun: An error that reveals someone's subconscious mind.
For example, "I wish you were her" instead of "I wish you were here."

ETYMOLOGY:

After Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis, who proposed the idea that errors in speech, writing, etc. reveal what is in one's subconscious mind. Earliest documented use: 1959.

USAGE:

"The Freudian slip is invoked to explain some strange and embarrassing behavior. 'Nice to beat you,' smiles a woman when she meets the ex-girlfriend of her husband."
Jena Pincott; Terrorized by the Tongue; Psychology Today (New York); Mar/Apr 2012.

See more usage examples of freudian slip in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

If only I may grow: firmer, simpler, -- quieter, warmer. -Dag Hammarskjold, Secretary General of the United Nations, Nobel laureate (1905-1961)

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