Semantic paraphasia:
John Gartner, a psychologist and a former assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, wrote last year in USA Today that there are two signs of language skills deteriorating. “Semantic paraphasia” means you substitute an incorrect word for a correct one. For example, when Trump discussed the “origins” of the Mueller investigation, he said: “I hope they now go and take a look at the oranges, the oranges of that investigation, the beginnings of that investigation.” [“Trump is going to freak out when he sees this,”, Jennifer Rubin, WaPo]
Although I think there’s a better word or phrase, although I cannot think of it right now. The thing I notice is not that he’s using the wrong word, but the word, oranges, sounds a lot like the word he meants, origins.
Heavens knows I’ve done that a time or two.
And, in fact, the next paragraph gives me that phrase:
The second, Gartner explains, is “phonemic paraphasia,” or the substitution of one word with a similar sounding non-word. For example, calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “Betanyahu” or saying “bigly” instead of “big league.” Such slip-ups are not proof of cognitive decline, but Gartner says they can be linked to moderate to severe stages of Alzheimer’s.
