# What is wrong with me? Is Freud whispering in my ear? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 3, 2005, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807 "2005-01-03T09:06:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/1 "2005-01-03T09:06:00Z")
Honestly - this is probably the fourth or fifth time I’ve slipped up majorly on this board alone - [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=294892) thread is a good example of what I’m talking about. This is the thing: I am honestly not doing it on purpose. This board isn’t the first place it’s happened - it happens often when I type. I once typed up a bunch of short stories for my English teacher in high school, and he brought me in after class to ask why I had written odd things - they’re not always dirty words, but words that seem vaguely (I stress _vaguely_) similar. In the thread I linked to, I managed to get “penis” from the word “panic”. I’ve said in another thread “pornographic” when I meant “photographic”. But other examples in my past include: my old cat’s name, “Rocky”, I turned to “Cory”. (“R” sound and “C” sound reversed). Or my new cat: from “Kero” to “Rico”. Pop Tarts turn into Top Parts. Grape Nuts turns to Ape Guts. (not literally, stay with me, people). Certainly, sometimes it’s amusing, and I really don’t mind people laughing. But for me, it’s frustrating. I often find myself embarrassed and stammering - it happens not just when I write/type, but when I speak, too. Does this have a name? Is it a disorder? Is it common? I do have dyslexia, and ADD (_not_ ADHD). Is this just another symptom of one or the other? Or both combined? Or - does it happen to everyone, honestly, and just turns out to be “Freudian slips” or similar? (I say honestly, because I truly burn with humiliation when I find out what’s happened - all I can think of is “If someone else said/wrote that, I’d think they did it on purpose, for attention.” It’s not a fair assumption, but heck, I do it all the time! And I’m honestly not doing it for attention - yes, I’ve admitted to being a nympho - but I’m **not** a _floozy_!\*) Help? No help needed? Schizo-nympho trying to break free? Freud incarnate? Happens to us all? - - No offense meant to **Amazon Floozy Goddess**! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/2 "2005-01-03T09:16:39Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > It’s not a fair assumption, but heck, I do it all the time! Assume, that is, not seek attention. I’m a very shy girl in Real LifeTM. I also wanted to add: I want to make sure to apologise to anyone who is offended when I slip up, because I never, ever intend to insult/offend anyone, in any way. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/3 "2005-01-03T09:53:46Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > I also wanted to add: I want to make sure to apologise to anyone who is offended when I slip up, because I never, ever intend to insult/offend anyone, in any way. I’m again sorry if this offends, but … dear God, it’s still bloody hilarious. If “penis ensues” rather than “panic ensues” offends someone … well, I’m not sure how much there is that’s wrong with this generalization: that person needs to remove pole from ass posthaste. On a more serious note (or at least as serious a one as I can summon right now, imagining penises quite literally springing up from bags of chips and hands and all sorts of other places), you look like you’re transposing letters. A lot of us do that, particularly if we aren’t paying full attention or our minds are otherwise not at their best. [sub]“Penis ensues” has GOT to be the title of SOMETHING.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/4 "2005-01-03T10:03:22Z")
FWIW, I think everyone has had the experience of using one word for another, which may or may not be suggestive. I know I managed to make a good friend of mine collapse into helpless laughter when I was discussing the whole recovered memory mess. I had never realize that parental could be rearranged into another word using all the letters until I sent her this sentence: > [@](#): > > So, there were these psychiartrists working on the theory that all mental illness was evidence of sexual abuse, and usually prenatal sexual abuse. I really, really, really don’t want to know how you can get prenatal sexual abuse. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/5 "2005-01-03T10:07:30Z")
You’re not the only one. When my sister was about 10 she was doing her geography homework. She called to my dad, who was watching TV, “Dad how do you spell Virginia?” “V… A… G… I… N… A…” he said, distractedly. She handed in her assignment about the Blue Ridge Mountains of Vagina, and was soundly mocked by her teacher and class. She was very upset. Penis ensued. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/6 "2005-01-03T10:11:02Z")
Oh, hell… for some reason, I just wasn’t expecting that punchline and now I can’t stop laughing. Funniest thing I’ve read in weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/7 "2005-01-03T11:42:22Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Oh, hell… for some reason, I just wasn’t expecting that punchline and now I can’t stop laughing. Funniest thing I’ve read in weeks. Same here, that killed me. FWIW, **iampunha** , I can be overly polite at times - I truly do not want to offend anyone, and so far I’ve been pretty lucky and no one has acted outraged - but I still like to make sure, _just in case_. For all I know, my grandmother could be reading! :eek: Also, though it was a mistake - I submitted the “penis ensues” without previewing (my own fault to begin with), and when I saw my post come up on my screen, it was that one line that jumped out at me. I blinked a couple of times, then began laughing - because I thought **I** had misread the post! All I could think of was, “my Og, that would be pretty darn funny if it really said… said… oh, _NO_. It _does_.” And so, though I am humiliated, embarrassed, frustrated, flustered… I am not without a sense of humour, and proceeded to bang my head on the desk, laughing myself to uncontrollable tears, trying desperately to catch my breath so I could apologise and explain. I really don’t mean it. Freud wouldn’t just have a field day with me, he’d fall madly in _love_ with me! ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/8 "2005-01-03T12:02:31Z")
To paraphrase Freud, “sometimes a penis is just a penis”. Maybe you need to get some. Or maybe it’s some neurological order related to Tourette’s Syndrome. Whichever, it sure has great entertainment value. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/9 "2005-01-03T12:05:20Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > To paraphrase Freud, “sometimes a penis is just a penis”. Maybe you need to get some. Or maybe it’s some neurological order related to Tourette’s Syndrome. Whichever, it sure has great entertainment value. **TMI alert, possibly** : I just _did_ get some before signing into the SDMB - can’t get hubby to sleep otherwise! 😉 Maybe that was it? Maybe a penis _is_ just a penis. So long as it ensues, I’m happy. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/10 "2005-01-03T12:48:17Z")
I do this too sometimes. But I think it has more to do with my hands have a propensity for becoming autonomous from what my brain is actually doing. For instance, whenever I use the word there, their or they’re; nine times out of ten I wont use the right there/their/they’re when I’m supposed to. Ugh it drives me nuts sometimes. Or even worse sometimes when I dail a number in the telephone I’m so used to using the nubers on my computer keypad I’ll dail the numbers on the phone as if they were arranged the same way they were on the keyboard. So I of course wind up dailing a number that doesn’t even come close to being the right number. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/11 "2005-01-03T13:14:36Z")
> [@iampunha](#): > > [sub]“Penis ensues” has GOT to be the title of SOMETHING.[/sub] I don’t know about that, but I can easily see, “Penis ensues,” becoming part of SMDB lore along with DHIBJD, OG, and others. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/12 "2005-01-04T11:11:20Z")
I’d say more that the shade of Reverand [Spooner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoonerism) has been whispering to you. 😉 Some of what you describe are Spoonerisms. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/13 "2005-01-04T12:18:34Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > I’d say more that the shade of Reverand [Spooner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoonerism) has been whispering to you. 😉 Some of what you describe are Spoonerisms. _Spooner_! _He’s_ the culprit! Metathesis. I have a nice, neat, tidy little label to post-it onto my brain. It makes me feel better. (Not because I _want_ to have problems, I just like to know what they are and be happy they don’t require medication). I’ve still been trying to figure out the penis-panic connection, and the nearest I can come is that they share similar letters, and I wasn’t paying close enough attention. P-N-I… what do you see when you see P-N-I? P-a-N-I-c? Or P-e-N-I-s? I left my brain on autopilot, and this is what happens. I suppose it’s really no big deal. I just worry sometimes - the older I get (ripe old age of 26, me) the more distracted I feel, the more foggy my mind feels, and I worry a little. I’m sure it’s just the ADD I’ve left untreated recently that causes the fogginess, but I still have to ask. And I can laugh at my mistakes. May penis ensue _you_, wherever you go. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/14 "2005-01-04T12:28:15Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > And I can laugh at my mistakes. May penis ensue _you_, wherever you go. I’m sorry … I really am… Imagine Dr. Spock saying that, with his Vulcan hand up in that V, all serious-like. Better, imagine the scene at the end of whichever Star Trek movie it was (hey, it’s late/early and I don’t feel like going through the IMDB listings of all 87 of them) where the entire crew of the ship have just been put on trial. He’s there and sees his father and there’s that brief scene thing (again, it’s late/early). Dr. Spock’s Dad: Live long and prosper. Dr. Spock: May penis ensue wherever you go. It’s just too much for a bear of little brain.[sub]No comment on the size of my panic.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/15 "2005-01-04T13:14:59Z")
Don’t worry. Penis ensues is not a big deal. When the _testicles_ ensue, now… _that’s_ when you should worry. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/16 "2005-01-04T14:46:19Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > _Spooner_! _He’s_ the culprit! Whew! That’s a relief. For a minute there I thought this entire thread was Freudulent. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/17 "2005-01-04T16:10:28Z")
I did just the opposite of this last night. I held up a picture of Brooke Burke’s ass to my girlfriend, pointed at it and said, “You don’t think that’s a nice _BOOK?!!_” She gave me quite an interesting look. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/18 "2005-01-04T16:55:22Z")
I do try not to laugh at others’ misfortune, but… **snerk snerk snerk** … some typos are way more entertaining than others. I doubt it’s Freudian, and it definitely sounds like spoonerisms, although spoonerisms are usually spoken rather than typed. There is a mild form of aphasia (that’s the word for when you forget a word) but **Cisco’s** mix-up of “book” and “ass” is a better example of that. Dyslexia could account for why it happens to you more than it happens to someone else, and the ADD could be a factor - we ADD people tend to go into automatic pilot sometimes. I know whenever I type the word “some” it invariably becomes “someone” because my fingers just keep going. Don’t fret over it. I read like you type, so I read that and NEVER EVEN NOTICED IT. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/19 "2005-01-04T18:26:43Z")
**Anastasaeon** , you are my hero. _Penis ensues_ will surely go down in SDMB history. I, too, did a double-take when I first saw it, though I knew exactly what you meant to write. Your immediate sheepish response just added fuel to the fire. Tears, I tell you. Enjoy your notoriety. 🙂 If it’s any consolation, I’ve done the same thing (though not nearly as amusingly). **NorwegianBlue** commonly refers to them as _Anneurisms_, playing on my first name. **jjim** , you deserve special recognition for your perfect usage of the new catchphrase. More tears, I tell you. ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807/20 "2005-01-04T19:21:51Z")
I wouldn’t worry… …Even SDMB [Admins](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5658593&postcount=11) have been known to slip up like this :eek: ! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-me-is-freud-whispering-in-my-ear/282807.md?page=2)