Speech Blunders: Mord Wixups

Ever had a verbal/mental mix up, causing you to sound more like Doc from Snow White than an actual human with intelligent thoughts? 
Doc: "what are you and who are you doing?"


Well your not alone. 

There is a reason I relate to the character Paul Rudd plays in I Love You, Man. He just makes up words and odd sentences, and well, I do that too especially in nervous situations. Which can be, well...awkward.


The other day at my son's T-ball game I made a comment about running murther. Which, was supposed to be either "more" or "further" and that's just what came out. Then while trying to get my daughter to kneel by the tub to wash out excess shampoo, I kept floundering for the right words. They just came out in stutters and rambling non-sense. All I was trying to say was "sit down and put your head over the side of the tub" but it came out as everything but. Something like, "put head under and sit over...bend on sit... sit over... put head down side, under tub..."  Finally I just took her body and showed her what to do. I was done with forming words at the moment.

I've always, always had the problem getting what is in my head to come out of my mouth in the correct manner. Perhaps that is why I enjoy writing. I say its a brain to mouth complex, it just doesn't want to work all the time, so brain to hand...much better. Maybe it's because our mouths are slower than our typing hands these days, who knows!

Thing is, when I try to duplicate a word mix up, it is like a very complex puzzle and much more difficult than saying it correctly. That tells me that the unconsciousness mind is one smart cookie! For instance, when I was a kid, I got mad while playing volleyball with some friends and when I was skipped over for team captain. In a fluster I said, "Hey, it's my turn to be keam taptain!"

Did you know that type of mix up happens often enough that it has a name? Its called a spoonerism. And it baffles my mind every time it happens.

The other thing that happens quite often is thinking of two words to describe something and as speaking, it's as if the mind hasn't really chosen which is best. So it just combines them. These can be pretty funny, or should I say, hilunny. Hilarious + funny? You get it. Here is a list of some interesting combinations I've babbled recently:

"Does your tumach hurt?"  {tummy + stomach} or the opposite,  stummy (one I'm all too familiar with.)
"That's biuge!"  {big + huge}
"Man you'd have to run fuick"  {fast + quick}
"That's faneat!"  {fantastic + great}

And these have a technical name as well: Portmanteau. What is so neat to think about is that this is actually the way a lot of words came about that we use today! 

'Smog' = Smoke/Fog. Though 'foke' may not have worked as well.

Think about it though, it really is quite amazing that our brains have the ability to do the lightning- fast processing of switching letters around in in various forms in the first place, and actually making it an audible creation.

Oh the strange brain. I do believe it has a sense of humor working against us: it's own form of personal entertainment, keeping us on our toes. Regardless, I must say, what fascinating minds we have! 

Or should I say, brinds.

Earth Blog: Water as Space

Last week my Ecocritism class had a conversation about pride and the St. Johns River. Or rather the lack there of. Because of this I made an effort to spend time overlooking the River this week. I went out a number of times and each time had a different experience. First I went to read for a class at Memorial Park on the water in Riverside. I immediately noticed an easier ability to focus. Something about the quiet calm allowed my mind to fully absorb the text. I had to wonder what it was about this space that allowed for my mind to open up, not unlike the space in front of me.

The second time I went out when the last light had fallen. I peered over the edge of a stone pillared railing and what I saw charged a completely different sensation. I saw the water as thick molasses—like a malaise. It turned into something almost terrifying. It felt as though the water would swallow whole me if I fell in. There was something about the smooth, bobbing flow that sparked imagination in me though. Sure, I thought about what it would be like to fall in and swarm in the open darkness of the breathing tide. But I also began to think of images, stories and plots. I began cataloging all the senses I was feeling, how I would describe all the images around the moonlight. It was strange how, instantly, once again my mind had been opened by sense and sight of the open space.

My Photo. In Riverside, Jacksonville FL. St. Johns River

Another occasion, I went out to Stinson Park to let my children play on the playground by the harbor. We originally went to watch the Blue Angels fly over of the river in front of Bettes Park. I even parked on a waterside street in Avondale to stare out over the mass of water. I suppose in some way I was trying to understand it better. I asked myself, how can a river so large just be overlooked? I found that the simplicity of the sun’s rays glittering atop the water or the stark call of a seagull coasting on the wind was incredibly peaceful. Still, I was unable to place what I was feeling specifically . I had to wonder--what if more people went and sat soaking up the St. Johns as if it was character in a book or something with a voice. After all, wasn't that what I was doing? In my own way it was speaking to me.

One thing that remained constant across all the visits to the River was how completely uncluttered I felt.  Not only did my mind feel open but the space was physically around me. There’s a 'space' across water that we don’t get in most places. Even small ponds or wetlands allow for the sky to open up and become taller. It allows for us to see a big picture, not just what is in physically obstructing our views, like houses or trees. There are many beautiful nature scenes but physically, there is not much like the uncluttered panorama’s overlooking outstretched water in our everyday lives.

There is something about open space that gives some sort of mental “time-out” and allows for our minds to escape the distraction that forms all around us in other landscapes or urban settings. According to Nora J. Rubinstein's work , The Psychological Value of Open Space, “Perhaps the dominant expressed rationale for using open space is the need for a place of contemplation and solitude. Many say they seek places set apart physically, or separated from other people, while others seek to simply remove themselves from their daily rituals and need no physical or social separation.”  Water is one of the most open areas we as humans can go to. A place that is nearly impossible to overpopulate by man-made structures. Therefore, it acts as a sort of haven away from 'structure' itself and perhaps even allows the mind to break away from the ‘pressure’ of those structures and all the psychological babel that comes along with it. Open space  tends to “suggests that nature serves to reduce our stress by reducing physiological arousal, and the alternate perspective suggests that stress results from our efforts to deal with 'information overload'. Nature is seen as an effective stress reducer because it provides a kind of 'cognitive quiet', necessitating fewer decisions based on external demands.”

I took a couple photo's to demonstrate how the open river looks in comparison to a landscape that is normally overpopulated with things. In Stinson Park,  I not only took photos in front of me overlooking the water, but also turned around and took photos behind me to show the contrast of open space compared to obstructed space. Even in a beautiful park the land adds a bit of edge and shadow, whereas the open water adds lightness. I highly suggest you go to a open expanse of a water and see how you feel after five minutes just looking our over it. Consider it a therapy of sorts. Let your mind open, wonder and create.

Open space compared to...

limited viewing of landscape

Barnes, M. A. (1994). A Study of the process of emotional healing in outdoor spaces and the concomitant landscape design implications [Unpublished Master's Thesis] (Clare Cooper Marcus, Chair)

Kaplan, R., & Kaplan, S. (1989). The Experience of nature: A Psychological perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Robunstein, Nora J. Ph.D. The Psychological Value of Open Space. Chapter 4 http://www.greatswamp.org/Education/rubinstein.htm. Viewed: November 6, 2011