Um · Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean

This original, entertaining, and surprising book investigates verbal blunders: what they are, what they say about those who make them, and how and why we've come to judge them."Um..." is about howyou really speak, and why it's normal for your everyday speech to be filled with errors-about one in every ten words. In this charming, engaging account of language in the wild, linguist and writer Michael Erardalso explains why our attention to some blunders rises and falls. Where did the Freudian slip come from? Why do we prize "umlessness" in speaking-and should we? And how do we explain theAmerican presidents who are famous for their verbal stumbles? Full of entertaining examples, "Um..." is essential reading for talkers and listeners of allstripes. "From the Trade Paperback edition."