lapsus linguae

See also: lapsus linguæ

English

Alternative forms

• lapsus linguæ

Etymology

From Latin lāpsus linguae (literally “slip or fault of the tongue”), from lāpsus (“fault”) and linguae (the genitive form of lingua (“tongue”)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌlæpsəs ˈlɪŋɡwiː/

Noun

lapsus linguae (plural lapsus linguae)

1. (formal) An inadvertent remark; slip of the tongue.

   Coordinate terms: lapsus auris, lapsus calami, lapsus digiti, lapsus digitorum, lapsus memoriae, lapsus muris, lapsus oculi, lapsus plumæ

   • a1789, Rev. Mr. Bramston, "The Art of Politics, in Imitation of Horace’s Art of Poetry", Epistle X in John Bell (ed.), Classical Arrangement of Fugitive Poetry, Volume V, John Bell (1789), page 112,

     Is there a man on earth so perfect found, / Who ne’er mistook a word in sense or sound ? / Not blund’ring, but persisting is the fault ; / No mortal sin is lapsus linguae thought : / Clerks may mistake ; considering who ’tis from, / I pardon little slips in Cler. Dom. Com.

   • 1850, Moses Margoliouth, A pilgrimage to the land of my fathers:

     ... a poor woman who owed one thousand piastres—about £30—rushed and seized hold of the coffin, but instead of saying, "God bless the Bey," she, by an unfortunate lapsus linguæ, exclaimed, "God do not bless the King," which slip is quite natural in the Arabic expression.

   • 1898, Pisistratus Caxton, My Novel, or Varieties in English Life, Volume I, George Routledge & sons, page 395,

     “The devil they do, ma’am!” bolted out Richard, gruffly ; and then, ashamed of his lapsus linguæ, screwed up his lips firmly, and glared at the company with an eye of indignant fire.

   • 2006, Daniele Chatelain and George Slusser (trs.), Honoré de Balzac (author), The Centenarian: Or, the Two Beringhelds, Wesleyan University Press, →ISBN, page 229,

     “As he said this, you can imagine our surprise; we thought the man must be out of his head, or that it was a lapsus linguae: yet the strength of his convictions caused us to persist in our first opinion. […]”

Usage notes

• This phrase is usually italicized in English texts.

Translations

An inadvertent remark

• Finnish: lipsahdus (fi), lapsus (fi)
• Greek: παραδρομή της γλώσσας f (paradromí tis glóssas)
• Hungarian: nyelvbotlás (hu)
• Icelandic: mismæli (is) n, munnvarp n
• Polish: lapsus (językowy) (pl) m
• Spanish: lapsus línguae

See also

• lapsus calami
• Freudian slip

References

• “lapsus linguae”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “lapsus linguae” in the Hutchinson Encyclopedia, Helicon Publishing LTD, 2007.

French

Noun

lapsus linguae m (plural lapsus linguae)

1. a lapsus linguae; an inadvertent remark, a slip of the tongue
   • 2006, Marie Lise Labonté and Nicolas Bornemisza, Guérir grâce à nos images intérieures, Canoe Inc, →ISBN, page 169,

     Freud a déjà amplement démontré que l’Inconscient s’exprime souvent par des actes manqués, des lapsus linguae, des comportements compulsifs, etc.

     Freud has amply demonstrated that the Unconscious often expresses itself via failed actions, lapsus linguae, compulsive behaviors, etc.

German

Alternative forms

• Lapsus linguae, Lapsus Linguae

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

lapsus linguae m

1. A lapsus linguae; an inadvertent remark, a slip of the tongue.

   Synonym: Versprecher m

   • 1898, Georg Büchmann, Walter Heinrich Robert-tornow, Geflügelte Worte:

     In Linz bezeichnet man den verstorbenen Direktor des dortigen Gymnasiums, Dr. Columbus, als den Urheber dieses lapsus linguae.

     In Linz, the late principal of the local high school was considered the originator of this lapsus linguae.

     [discussing the phrase 'Unvorbereitet wie ich mich habe...', a jocular alteration of the phrase 'Unvorbereitet wie ich bin...']

Usage notes

The term is usually spelled Lapsus Linguae with two initial majuscules (Duden), but Lapsus linguae (Brockhaus and Meyer) is also common, and the Latin and English spelling lapsus linguae is common in specialist literature. — German orthography calls for all nouns to begin with majuscule letters, but this and other foreign phrases are often left entirely in minuscule. (Latin terms are never written entirely in majuscule as in classical, but not later, Latin.)

Hypernyms

• Flüchtigkeitsfehler m

Spanish

Alternative forms

• lapsus línguae

Noun

lapsus linguae m (plural lapsus linguae)

1. a lapsus linguae; an inadvertent remark, a slip of the tongue
   • 2007, Isabel Díaz Portillo, Técnica de la Entrevista Psicodinamica, Editorial Pax México, →ISBN, page 18,

     La condensación, mecanismo evidente en los sueños, neologismos, lapsus linguae y chistes, consisten en la reunión de componentes de varias representaciones psíquicas en un solo elemento (palabra, imagen, representación), con el cual se encuentran vinculadas asociativamente. Por ejemplo, en un sueño puede aparecer una persona, que lleva el nombre de otra o el abrigo de una tercera.

     Condensation, a mechanism evident in dreams, neologisms, lapsus linguae and jokes, consists of the joining of components of different physical representations in a single element (word, image, representation), which are found to be connected associatively. For example, in a dream can appear a person, with the name of another person or the overcoat of a third.

Further reading

• “lapsus linguae”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28