A Freudian Slip – The Hungry Man's Mistake

1915

Prof. Sigmund Freud, the eminent German scholar, has made a study of lingual blunders, spoken and printed, and has embodied the result in his book, "Psychopathology." As an example of blundering speech, caused by subconscious cerebration, he gives the following:

"A wealthy, but not very generous American host, invited his friends to an evening party. Everything went well until about midnight, when there was an intermission for supper. To the disappointment of many of the guests, there was no real supper; instead, they were regaled with thin sandwiches and lemonade.

"As it was during a presidential campaign, the conversation turned upon the different candidates, and as the discussion grew warmer, one of the guests, an ardent Progressive, remarked to the host, 'You may say what you please about Roosevelt, but there is one thing he can always be relied upon to do; he always gives you a square meal.' He meant, of course, to say a 'square deal.' The assembled guests burst into a roar of laughter, to the great embarrassment both of the speaker and of the host." — Youth's Companion.