Meaning
A mistake in speech or action that unintentionally reveals a person’s true thoughts, feelings, or desires.
The term comes from the theories of Sigmund Freud, who believed such slips are not accidental but reflect subconscious thoughts breaking through.
Examples:
- “She accidentally called her boss ‘Mom’—a Freudian slip if I’ve ever heard one!”
- “When he said ‘I love you’ instead of ‘I like your work,’ we all knew it was a Freudian slip.”
- During the interview, he said ‘salary’ instead of ‘satisfaction’—a classic Freudian slip!”
- “She meant to say ‘pass the salt’ but said ‘pass the chocolate’ instead—maybe a Freudian slip revealing her true cravings.”
Origin
Freud first discussed this phenomenon in his 1901 book The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, where he used the German term “Fehlleistungen,” meaning faulty actions or mistakes. He proposed that these slips occur when unconscious desires break through the defenses of the ego, revealing hidden thoughts or feelings.
Freud’s interest in this area was sparked by a case involving a young man who misquoted a phrase from Virgil’s Aeneid. Through psychoanalysis, Freud determined that the man’s error was linked to a traumatic experience related to blood, suggesting that the misquote was not just accidental but indicative of deeper psychological issues.
Although Freud did not coin the term “Freudian slip” himself—this label emerged later, particularly through the translations of his work by James Strachey—the concept has become widely recognized in both psychology and popular culture. The notion has even been traced back to earlier literary references, with some attributing similar ideas to William Shakespeare