Characters
One Sentence Summary
Summary
Long- Question
1. What are the different types of
verbal errors? Why do we commit them? Why do we laugh at them?
2. Into what groups has Rosenblatt
organized his numerous examples of verbal missteps?
Short- Question
1. What are the causes we make mistakes?
2. Why do we laugh when person makes a
mistake?
3. What are the kinds of mistakes the
writer describes in the essay?
4. Present some of the examples of
slips, spoonerisms, bloopers, and mistranslations.
19. Oops! How's That Again?
Roger Rosenblatt
Characters
Speaker : essayist
Mentioned Persons
An engagement announced ceremony : Businessman Balfour; Prince Charles; Princess Lady Diana; Lady Jane
Nancy Reagan : politician
A teacher : hissed/mistory = missed/history
View on the mistakes
Psychologists' view
Linguists' view
Writer's view
One Sentence Summary
The writer talks about missteps like slips of tongue, mistranslations, faux-pas, spoonerisms, blooperisms, and tries to explain why these things occur.
Summary
In the essay, the writer describes verbal mistakes people make and their causes. The writer describes various kinds of verbal mistakes. Slips of tongue are very common kinds of mistakes. It doesn't hurt anybody but create a funny situation. In them people use one word for another. The writer gives an example that once a businessman, Balfour congratulated Prince Charles for his engagement with Lady Jane. Actually Balfour congratulated Prince Charles for his engagement with Diana.
Another kind of mistake is faux- pas. It is a serious kind of mistake. It is a mistake made in a public places. Although the speaker doesn't mean to hurt the listeners, it has great effect on the listeners, e.g. Nancy Reagan after addressing an assembly at her first election. She phoned her husband saying that she was very happy to address the beautiful white people. Here the blacks were also going to vote her and they were hurt badly.
Mistranslation is another kind of mistake. It takes place when something is changed from one language to another. It happens as the translator fails to understand the meaning. For example, the English slogan 'come alive with Pepsi' was mistranslated into German as 'come alive out of the grave with Pepsi'. Blooperism is a mistake made on T.V. or, radio. Another kind of mistake is spoonerism. It happens when a speaker mixes some letter of the words. For example, 'You've hissed all my mystery lectures'. Here the speaker means to say 'you've missed all my history lectures'.
The writer says that there are various reasons that people make such mistakes. According to the psychologists, People think something but all the things can't be expressed everywhere. Such feelings and emotions are suppressed. And sometimes they get outlet and people make mistakes. Such mistakes express their hidden motives. According to the linguistics, our brain has a network of language. Sometimes fails to choose a correct word or correct language. So, we make a mistake.
Finally, the writer says that we all laugh at people when they make a mistake. To make a mistake is a human nature. When we find a person who makes a mistake we laugh. Because we remember the mistakes have done. And we become satisfied and get relief.
Long- Question
1. What are the different types of verbal errors? Why do we commit them? Why do we laugh at them?
The different types of verbal errors are slips of tongue, mistranslations, faux pas, blooperism, and spoonerism. Slips of tongue are common error. It create laugh. Mistranslation is not so serious. But faux pas and blooperism is serious errors because it happens in public places and media. Spoonerism is not so serious but it makes the people confuse.
The writer says that there are various reasons that people make such mistakes. According to the psychologists, People think something but all the things can't be expressed everywhere. Such feelings and emotions are suppressed. And sometimes they get outlet and people make mistakes. Such mistakes express their hidden motives. According to the linguistics, our brain has a network of language. Sometimes fails to choose a correct word or correct language. So, we make a mistake.
Finally, the writer says that we all laugh at people when they commit a mistake. To make a mistake is human nature. When we find a person who commits a mistake we laugh. Because we remember the mistakes have done. And we become satisfied and get relief
2. Into what groups has Rosenblatt organized his numerous examples of
verbal missteps?
The essayist has organized his numerous examples of verbal mistakes as slip of tongue, mistranslations, bloopers, spoonerisms, public blunders, and faux pas. The groups of verbal missteps’ examples are as follows:
A. Nancy Reagan’s telephone remarks how delighted she was to be looking at all “the beautiful white people.” While she was addressing a large mass of people where black people also presented, who were badly shattered. This is the example of slips of tongue or faux pas or public blunder. The place determined the slip of the tongue seriousness or lightness.
B. Mistranslation: mistranslations of the slogan “come alive with Pepsi” in German as “come alive out of the Grave with Pepsi” and elsewhere more precisely as “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave.”
C. Bloopers: Radio announcer Harry von Zell’s introduction of President Herbert Hoover as “Hoobert Heever.”
D. Spoonerisms: once a lecturer to a student: “you have hissed all my mystery lectures.” In fact, he wants to say, you have missed all my history lectures.
Short- Question
1. What are the causes we make mistakes?
See summary's 2nd last paragraph.
2. Why do we laugh when person makes a mistake?
See summary's last paragraph.
3. What are the kinds of mistakes the writer describes in the essay?
See 1st long- Question's 1st paragraph.
4. Present some of the examples of slips, spoonerisms, bloopers, and
mistranslations.
“The beautiful white people” it is a speech in front of the mass of both black and white people. “Come alive with Pepsi” which mean not enjoying Pepsi but rather a medicine is an example of mistranslation. “You have hissed all my mystery lectures.” Instead of missed and history is an example of spoonerism. “Hoobert Heever.” A radio jockey broadcast the President Herbert Hoover is an example ofblooperism. Mistakes or slips of the tongue sometimes create so serious problem when it occur in the public places.
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