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Mar 3, 2018 · Jumble (verb) ~ If you jumble things, they become mixed together so that they are untidy or are not in the correct order. Also ~ to confuse mentally; muddle . Scramble ( verb ) ~ to put things such as words or letters in the wrong order so that they do not make sense: He had a habit of scrambling his words when excited .
- Spoonerism
- Malapropism
- Other Ways We Play with English Words
A ‘spoonerism’ is when a speaker accidentally mixes up the initial sounds or letters of two words in a phrase. The result is usually humorous.
A ‘malapropism’ is when an incorrect word is used in a sentence that sounds like the correct word but means something completely different.
Blends
One of the easiest ways to get words mixed up is to think of one word while trying to say another. This is how blends end up happening. These mistakes happen regularly in all languages and are usually easy to notice. One famous example in pop culture is from the 2004 film Mean Girls, where the main character Cady gets nervous and accidentally creates the word grool.
Portmanteaus
Sometimes, though, these blends are intentional and become official words of their own. These new words are called portmanteaus and are quite common in English. Don’t believe me? Well, think about the last time you listened to a podcast (iPod + broadcast), breathed in smog (smoke + fog), on met friends for brunch (breakfast + lunch). A relatively new blended word is for a type of food from Louisiana that has increased in popularity in recent years, especially around American Thanksgiving. Do...
- Burning the Midnight Oil From Both Ends. “I’m so stressed that I’m burning the midnight oil from both ends.” This is a mixup of the two idioms, “burning the midnight oil” and “burning the candle at both ends.”
- Heavy Is the Goose That Lays the Golden Egg. “George just got promoted to management, I hope he’s ready for it. Heavy is the goose that lays the golden egg.”
- Walking a Thin Line. “That decision seems a little risky! He’s walking a thin line.” This malaphor is a combination of “walking on thin ice” and “walking a fine line.”
- I Can Read Him Like the Back of My Book. “He couldn’t hide anything from me. I can read him like the back of my book!” This malaphor mixes up two very common idioms: “know him like the back of my hand” and “read him like a book.”
If the issue is that you didn't notice one present tense verb in five paragraphs of past tense, that isn't really something to beat yourself over. If you've read your work and you missed it, chances are, your brain just isn't registering what's wrong because things make sense a specific way in your thoughts. 3.
May 19, 2021 · This mixing up words when speaking anxiety symptom can change from day to day, and/or from moment to moment. All of the above combinations and variations are common. This mixing up words anxiety symptom can seem much worse when overly stressed, overly anxious, when tired and fatigued, and/or when sleep has been disrupted and/or short.
Conflate is a more formal way to say "mix together," and it's typically used for texts or ideas. You probably wouldn't say you conflated the ingredients for a cake, but if you blended two different stories together to make a new one, conflate would work.
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Jan 24, 2023 · Fuse means to adhere two materials in such a way that they're difficult to separate. You can fuse metals, something sticky to cloth, two sticky things, or anything as long as they're two distinct things that are stuck to each other. Mix means to combine two or more things to create something new. You can mix eggs, flour, sugar, etc. to make ...
