Does anyone else frequently use the wrong word?

[AuntVictoria]

I often use the wrong, but related word. So I just now said 'pudding' instead of 'breakfast', and I might say 'night' instead of 'day' or 'tomorrow' instead of 'today'.

I don't notice this until someone points it out. It's got worse recently - I think it's been worse since having DS (16 months), who still doesn't sleep through, and I think it's worse in the evenings as it's usually DH who points it out. I therefore think it's due to tiredness. However, perhaps I do it all day long and no one else mentions it! Does anyone else have the same problem?

I suffered from what i called baby brain 30 odd years ago, i have four children, i feel for you. Now however, i have menopausal brain, yesterday I couldn't even string a particular sentence together. It's very frustrating and I'm not alone, i have my similar agec friends suffering similar issues. Un mumsnetty hugs op.

All. The. Time. I am deslexic so I think sometimes it's a form of speech asphsia. Other times tiredness. The more full my brain becomes with deadlines and mental load the more I seem to muddle my words.

My husband does this all the time. They're always related words, or opposites. Do you think it's something to worry about...?

I’ve been doing this and trying not to worry about it.

Its tiredness, probably also hormonal; especially if you are breastfeeding or perimenopausal. Something to do with a lack of oestrogen if I remember correctly.
But yeah, tiredness isn't good for brain function and/or memory/ word finding.

I have spells of this and I also have migraine related aphasia. I suspect they are linked.

I had a very traumatic birth with DS 18m ago and since then my speech has been like this , it really embarrasses me as I used to pride myself on public speaking and holding good conversations.

All the time. My DC is seven months and in the beginning I literally stumbled mid sentence and froze, I would just lose my train of thought completely.

All the time. I used to be quite articulate pre-children if I do say so myself but I've had constant baby brain for four years and sometimes struggle with the most basic sentences. I blame it on spending a huge portion of my day with two young children and very little adult interaction.

When I’m due my B12 injection I can’t string a sentence together, can’t explain directions and constantly forget what I’m doing

All the time. Like you, related words.

I got bored and googled it. It's called semantic paraphasia when it happens in the extreme. l think it's fairly normal if it just happens occassionally.

Earlier I told DH I was going to nip to the vet to get my medication, and he said he was going to watch Bake Off on the tumble dryer. Our toddler is not sleeping well at the moment, and I’m heavily pregnant and DH is overworked, putting it down to that!

Yes this happens to me for a while after having kids (Also forgetting names, telephone/pin numbers and not being able to follow directions)🤷‍♀️

Baby brain.

Caffeine can also increase aphasia. So you have a double whammy of aphasia due to tiredness and aphasia due to the coffee you are drinking to counteract the tiredness.

I get this all the time and end up getting frustrated and usually pointing at said item with "that fucker there".

It's infuriating!

I once said no when I might have had a lot more fun if I'd said yes.

I do it all the time. It bothers me but at least the family have a laugh 🤭

I’m just going to put out the unpopular opinion that you should go with your instincts on this (as should everyone) and not brush aside too easily. If there’s a fairly plausible trigger such as baby brain, then there is less reason to be concerned but if there is no associated likely explanation and it’s more than very occasional then I would go to doctors. Even if it’s stress or lack of sleep that’s affecting you it could be worth looking at together, but there’s no harm in running a few tests to make sure you’re not deficient in any key nutrients or that, in very rare cases and likely at older ages, there are no other cognitive issues going on.

I do it a lot, especially when tired. Or I forget the word I want completely. (never had a baby). I don't even notice that I'm doing it. Once I was staying in a travelodge and you had to ask at reception for a hairdryer. I asked them for a helicopter!!

Yes, this is a huge issue of mine.

But the funniest (and often most mortifying when I'm trying to talk to other people) is when I go to say one word but it comes out as a hybrid made of two different words meaning the same.

No good at coming up with examples, it doesn't work that way, but think if you said slired instead of either tired or sleepy, it's kind of like that.

DH gets two-word things muddled up. Today, he asked me to get some bandelion and durdock and on seeing the Canestest advert one night, asked 'What's vagerial bactinosis?'.

Pregnancy brain, baby brain, tired brain, stressed brain, menopausal brain, elderly brain,

and the few bits between those

caffeine brain, alcohol brain, carb brain

and if there are still any gaps

lovesick brain, cheated on brain.

After that

'No fucks left to give' brain

Perfectly normal in my experience

And if there is ever a gap where none of these apply - "Rare and Total Allover Relaxation Syndrome Extra is the definitive cause. (RATARSE)

There are a couple of versions of this. My DH and DD2 both substitute incorrect words, either opposite of what they mean, or vaguely synonymous but miss the mark, frequently. They also mash phrases. E.g. DH said 'time is on the wing' and simply didn't believe me that it is not an established phrase. DD2 said to me 'is being colour blind why people can't be....wire workers?' she meant 'electricians'. DD2 has a dx of ASD, and DH is very like her, so it may be that, I'm not sure.

I have migraines and when I'm on the edge of migraine land (e.g. vague pressure in head, but not a headache; slight but not overwhelming noise sensitivity; feeling of being 'unwell' but can't quite pin down what's wrong) I start to muddle words, or forget words. When I'm in full migraine, I garble sentences and forget what I was going to say mid-sentence. I also sometimes muddle letters, so I'll say 'parcark' instead of 'carpark'.

DD1 had a speech delay and she used to use auxillary words instead of key words. It was quite fascinating. She'd say 'bowl-eat' for food, 'chicken with handle' for satay chicken, 'pink and it go wee' for slide, etc. The SALT said it was like she was looking in her filing cabinet for the right words, but couldn't find them, so she was pointing to the meaning rather than the key word. Clever child