thinko, typo, misspeak, weaselly

  thinko, typo, misspeak, weaselly

2018.4.25

The Economist

There are two types of speech mistakes. “Typos” are ubiquitous, and listeners hardly notice many of them. “Thinkos” go deeper; they betray that the speaker might not actually know something

“I misspoke”, a weaselly phrase

From the archive

ECONOMIST.COM

• 2A deceitful or treacherous person.

  ‘he was a double-crossing weasel’

VERB weaselled, weasels, weaseling, weaselling, weaseled

[NO OBJECT]

• 1Achieve something by use of cunning or deceit.

  ‘she suspects me of trying to weasel my way into his affections’

misspeak

VERBmisspoke, misspoken

[NO OBJECT]US 

• Express oneself in an insufficiently clear or accurate way.

  ‘claiming that she misspoke, she served up a second explanation’

  ‘perhaps he misspoke himself’

typo

NOUNplural typos

informal 

• A typographical error.

Origin

Early 19th century: abbreviation.

thinko

NOUNplural thinkos

informal 

• A mistake in one's thought processes; a mental lapse or failure to reason correctly.

Origin

1990s: formed on the pattern of typo.

WIKTIONARY

thinko

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1English
  • 1.1Etymology
  • 1.2Pronunciation
  • 1.3Noun
    • 1.3.1Synonyms
    • 1.3.2Coordinate terms
  • 1.4Anagrams

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From think +‎ -o, on the model of typo (“typographical error”).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /θɪŋkəʊ/
• Rhymes: -ɪŋkəʊ

Noun[edit]

thinko (plural thinkos)

1. (slang, neologism) A careless mistake made in thinking. quotations ▼

   I must have done quite a thinko, but I don't remember leaving my keys in the refrigerator.

Synonyms[edit]

• (mistake): blooper, blunder, boo-boo, brain fart, defect, error, fault, faux pas, fluff, gaffe, lapse, mistake, slip, stumble
  • See also Thesaurus:error

Coordinate terms[edit]

• clicko, scanno, speako, spello, typo, writo

Anagrams[edit]

• khiton