Does 'misspeak' mean lying? (BBC Article)

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BBC: Does 'misspeak' mean lying?

Hillary Clinton says she was "misspeaking" when she incorrectly recalled her trip to Bosnia. Is this a euphemism?

After Donald Rumsfeld's "unknown unknowns", it's time to untangle another piece of US politics-speak. Or should that be misspeak?

When Hillary Clinton corrected her description of a visit to Bosnia in 1996, she made an interesting choice of words: "I did misspeak the other day."

The word "misspeak" has a long and varied history, says John Simpson, chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary.

The most common modern sense of "misspeak" is in the US, where it has developed two meanings since the late 19th Century - to speak unclearly or to fail to tell the whole truth, says Mr Simpson. And it crossed the Atlantic in the mid 20th Century.

Fiona Douglas, a lecturer in English language at the University of Leeds, says the origins of the modern meanings go back to before 1393, when poet John Gower penned Confessio Amantis.

"The modern senses all have to do with unclear speaking and incorrect or misleading communication.

"The citations suggest that this 'misspeaking' can be deliberate or unintentional, conscious or unconscious - hence it's quite interesting to speculate exactly what Hillary Clinton's use of the word actually meant."

[islandmkl]

1. yesterday had a post that summed it all up (to paraphrase):

MISPOKE:

"I shot an 80 on the golf course last Saturday, and took $100 off the boys."
"No, you shot an 82 on Sunday, and you won $90 because you owed $10 on the longest drive contest."

LIE:

"I saved 5 people from a burning house last Saturday on my way to play golf; I had to resuscitate all of them, and I had to do an emergency tracheotomy on the baby. I still made the golf course in time and shot the best round of any member since 1978."
"No, you shot an 82 on Sunday, and you won $90 because you owed $10 on the longest drive contest."

[OllieLotte]

5. I agree with your analysis. n/t

[superkia]

10. LOL! You did a great job with your comparison!

[keep_it_real]

2. "She's in danger of doing what Bill Clinton did . . .

. . . in redefining sexual relations.

"She's redefining telling the truth because 'misspeaking' is a euphemism for not telling the truth. It's the language of bamboozling, which US politicians and the US military love and get away with."

~~from the article

[tridim]

3. "misspeak" has exactly one definition in politics

Misspeak - CYA term used when there is irrefutable and physical proof that you lied.

[InsultComicDog]

9. not sure I agree

It could also mean that you got something wrong, even if it was a result of your ignorance rather than your honesty.

For example, McCain the other day. Maybe he was deliberately conflating Iran and Al Qaeda. But the alternate theory is that he is senile and hardly knows the difference.

If the latter is true, that would be "misspeaking" even though he may not have been lying.

[Buzz Clik]

4. It's not the misstatement, it's the impact on her so-called foreign policy experience. *poof!*

gone

[stillcool]

6. I thought it was 'mis-remember'...

[Drachasor]

7. I love the BBC, they conferred with 6 or so experts in the English language on the word "misspeak"

Is that awesome or what?

[marshall]

13. From the OED

I looked up the word in the Oxford English Dictionary. Here are the various definitions:

1. To murmur, grumble. Obs.
2. a. To speak insultingly, improperly, or out of turn; to speak evil.
b. To speak disrespectfully or disparagingly of.
c. To speak evil of; to calumniate. .
3. a. To speak about, utter, or pronounce incorrectly; to communicate unclearly or misleadingly. Now rare.
b. Chiefly U.S. To speak incorrectly, unclearly, or misleadingly.
c. Chiefly U.S. To fail to convey the meaning one intends by one's words; (euphem. and humorous) to fail to tell the whole truth.

Interesting that for Hillary, either the British or the US definitions can apply.

[Cha]

8. She lied and it's on tape..even after Sinbad tried

to help her remember she called him a comedian and wouldn't fess up. The pilot of the plane they were in had read this on the military blogs about a month ago and he was being an officer and a gentleman by not outting her but has since given an interview that I heard this morning.

The tape of hilary saying, "Now this is what happened" can no way be construed as misspoke.

hilary's busted for lying big time and Obama is going to get the brunt of her fury.

[Life Long Dem]

11. Whow cares. Lying means lying

[msallied]

12. That's what I like to refer to as a "euphemism."

[Scurrilous]

14. K & R

:thumbsup: