mistalk

present singular third person mistalks · participle present mistalking · participle past mistalked · past mistalked

1. To speak badly; to stutter, garble one's words, mispronounce words, substitute incorrect words, or make other such errors.

   Amazed, the audience looked at each other. What had come over their favorite storyteller to mistalk like that?

   2021, Maryse Condé, Crossing the Mangrove

   2 more examples

   The dictater frequently misreads or mistalks a word. If the error is plain, and leaves no room for doubt that it is an error, don't copy that error.

   1904 October, Charles G. Mutzenbergh, “The Stenographer”, in The Phonographic Magazine and National Shorthand Reporter

   Freud merges the two communicative scenes in his writing : the restricted clinical one with its specificity of talking, mistalking, listening , mislistening, and the larger public one of writing and reading.

   1999, María Rosa Fort Brescia, Moisés Lemlij, At the threshold of the millennium, page 63

   Synonyms: misspeak

2. To talk inappropriately, misleadingly, mistakenly, or otherwise untruely.

   I don't aim to mistalk ye. I jest want to tell ye how it was.

   1937, Margaret Gardner Mayorga, editor, The Best One-act Plays of 1937, page 91

   5 more examples

   But the only thing that he retained of this first study was a certain "breathlessness" which is not absent in Shelley, but which assumes quite different form in Browning, and which is in fact the right name for his much mistalked of "obscurity."

   1910, George Saintsbury, A History of English Prosody from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day, page 218

   For 11 months he's been mistalking about my record, misdirecting it, misstating it.

   1992 September 27, President George Bush, Remarks to the Community in Wixom, Michigan

   And then also, those who out of their own self-righteousness or disappointments for those being processed start to misbehave or mistalk and even lose their faith because of this.

   2014, Max. Wellspring Oseogena, The Empowered Life!, page 178

   Nevertheless I went, "what? Tell me right away, I got kids to play with" got kids to play with? I mistalked, I really did, they're not my kids.

   2021, Daai Readington, Teenage rebellion, page 117

   Others, one who mistalk about her were very surprised and ashamed of themselves.

   2021, Riya Rashmi Dash, Sriya Sri, The Colossal Book, page 13

   Synonyms: misspeak

plural mistalks

1. uncountableusuallyThe act or content of mistalking.

   You are the normal child of the deaf that was told all the mistalk by his mother.

   2011, Yemi Adebiyi, The Pastor's Prostitute

   2 more examples

   What you type gets sent across the network immediately. That means your talkee sees exactly what you type, including mistakes and "mistalks," so think before you type!

   1995, Marshall Wilensky, Candace Leiden, TCP/IP for Dummies, page 97

   The noise came nearer the door and Mian Sahib saw the thrashing of the boy-servant whose crime was mistalk.

   2007, Shahid Nasim Hyder, Love, Jehad, and Terrorism, page 50