Dictionary.com Word Of The Day
Feb. 23, 2016
parapraxis\par-uh-PRAK-sis\noun
1. Psychology. a slip of the tongue or pen, forgetfulness, misplacement
of objects, or other error thought to reveal unconscious wishes or
attitudes.
QuotesSlips of the tongue are rare with me. When I make them I can be
sure Im under strain. So I was horrified when I was describing to
Denoon my odyssey through Old Naledi and heard myself say that when I
saw the shebeen I decided to give the guys at it a wide breast.
But it
was a proof of gentility that he overlooked my first parapraxis in his
presence
-- Norman Rush, Mating, 1991OriginParapraxis can be traced to the Greek
word prâxis meaning "act, action." The prefixpara- is used in formation
of loanwords from Greek and means "beyond, past, by." By extension,
para- is also used to designate objects or activities auxiliary to or
derivative of that denoted by the base word.More From
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