Word Confusion

I sometimes have issues remembering the right word in casual conversation. It’s not because I try to impress people with eloquent verbiage. No, not at all. It’s the simple words that often elude me. And I usually end up blurting out the wrong word in its place. Sometimes I don’t even realize the blunder until I see the look on the other person’s face.

I most often confuse nouns. Some examples of types of my slip-ups are:

• “I put the dishes in the garbage” (meaning dishwasher).
• “I put the mail in the sink” (meaning on the table).

Sometimes the bloopers are somewhat logical:

• If I am teaching a violin lesson right after writing something, I say, “Start at the beginning of this sentence” when I mean “measure.” I have also said, “Go back to this period” when I meant “note.” And, “Start at this stanza” when poetry has been on my brain.
• I may say, “My laundry is in the fridge” if I am standing in front of the refrigerator.
• I may also say, “I want to take a walk with my homework” – Oh wait, no I wouldn’t say that one. I think I just experienced word-confusion on paper!

Sometimes I’ll realize that I can’t think of the right word and will pause for a bit with my brow scrunched in deep, brain-wracking thought. Other times, I’ll hold out an “ahhhhhhh” as I try to remember.

More recently, I’ve begun a new tactic that has proved quite successful – I act out the word I’m looking for or use other words to describe it (kind of like a game, except I can’t remember the correct answer until I hear it). The irony is that I will often describe the simplest of words with words that are significantly more complex. It really doesn’t make much sense.

Unfortunately, I feel rather alone in this dilemma of word confusion because I’ve never met anyone else who has this problem!