Dictionary

lapsus linguae en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌlæpsəs ˈlɪŋɡwiː/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. (formal) An inadvertent remark; a slip of the tongue.
   • ... 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. 1850, Moses Margoliouth, A pilgrimage to the land of my fathers:
   • a'''1789, 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.
   • 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. […]”
   • 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.

Forms

Coordinates

lapsus plumæ · lapsus calami · lapsus digiti · lapsus digitorum · lapsus oculi · lapsus memoriae · lapsus auris

Relateds

lapsus calami · Freudian slip

Translations (8)

is munnvarp (An inadvertent remark) · pl lapsus (An inadvertent remark) · fi lapsus (An inadvertent remark) · fi lipsahdus (An inadvertent remark) · el παραδρομή της γλώσσας (An inadvertent remark) · es lapsus línguae (An inadvertent remark) · is mismæli (An inadvertent remark) · hu nyelvbotlás (An inadvertent remark)