Sweeping rakes
Listening to the news on the radio during my drive into the city this morning, I heard the weather reporter say this, "Looking out the window, I saw my neighbor sweeping rakes".
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Archive for Misspeaking
Freudian slip of the century: "Let's stop attacking pedophiles"
Senator Ted Cruz making an impassioned speech at a Senate hearing on Tuesday about reaching a “bipartisan agreement” on crime:
“How about we all come together and say, ‘let’s stop murders?’
“How about we all come together and say ‘let’s stop rape?’
“How about we all come together and say ‘let’s stop attacking pedophiles’.”
(Independent [10/1/25]; videos here and here)
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Chairman Xi the orator. Not
At this most important moment of his career, when he is about to be crowned emperor for life of the CCP / PRC, Xi Dada commits a whole slew of bloopers and blunders, gaffes and goofs, and the camera has caught him in flagrante delicto:
【辱包素材】习近平二十大开幕报告口误合集
接踵(zhòng)而至
打铁(xuě)必须自身硬
解决(放)人类面临(yín)的共同问题
妇女儿童(téng)
着(zháo)力
供(gòng)给
塑(shuò)造
痼疾(jì)
步骤(zòu)
生动活泼(生吞活剥🐻)
道德水准(平😈)
斗争取得(斗争争🤨)
物质文明(墓志铭🪦) pic.twitter.com/ahPJ1hoLoK— Dope Pig_习蜜归来 🇻🇳 🇰🇵 看反贼正在土崩瓦解，保皇派出头之日已经到来 (@Dope__Pig) October 18, 2022
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Yet another literary misreading by Xi Jinping
This one amounts to a Sinitic spoonerism.
In his major July 1 speech celebrating the 100th anniversary of the CCP, Xi Jinping wanted to impress people with this set phrase:
yízhǐqìshǐ
頤指氣使 / 颐指气使
lit. "chin / jaw / cheek — point out / at [with a finger] — haughty attitude / bearing — command / order / dispatch"
i.e., "(arrogantly / contemptuously) give orders; boss people around (by looks and gestures)"
Instead, what came out of his mouth was this:
yíshǐqìzhǐ
頤使氣指
which might be playfully rendered as something like "beatbrow"
This expression goes back to at least the Tang period (618-907).
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Thailand or Thighland? Dinesh D'Douza sets us straight.
Trump mispronounces Thailand as "Thighland" pic.twitter.com/PgTRnHpAA8
— The Recount (@therecount) August 6, 2020
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Stay uninflected!
Students, former students, colleagues, and friends all around the world have been sending me best wishes during this age of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their impression is that things in America now are particularly bad. They offer me face masks and other PPE, they worry about my health, they give me all sorts of advice.
I just received my favorite piece of encouragement thus far from a student who is stuck in Beijing:
"Stay uninflected!"
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"Per day" or "today"?
President Trump meets with the Vice Premier of China, Liu He, in the White House:
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