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Anyone who works with or teaches on speech errors might be interested... http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1738406,00.html In brief, on 23 March 2006, speaking enthusiastically about Condoleeza Rice, talk show host David Lenihan said: "She's got the patent resumé of somebody that has serious skill. She loves football, she's African-American, which would be kind of a big coon. A big coon. Oh my God - I am totally, totally, totally, totally sorry for that. I didn't mean that. That was just a slip of the tongue" Lenihan said later that he meant to say 'coup'. It's quite possible that he was accessing the words 'coup' and 'boon'. It's also possible that the [k]_[n] sequence repeated in 'African', 'American' and 'kind of' primed the production of the [n] in the offending word. I find the 'Freudian slip' explanation rather weak, as these are much less common than word blends and perseverations. Anyway, 20 minutes later he was sacked. Apparently his day job as an academic is now also in danger. And in January 15 2005, Rob Blair, a Las Vegas TV weatherman said: "Martin Luther koo King Junior day". In my mind, this is a typical anticipation error (from 'Junior'), with a possibility that the stressed vowel in 'Luther' also had an impact in the tongue twister effect. Despite the fact that he never even reached the crucial nasal, which could have been 'going to be' velar or alveolar - who knows - he too was swiftly sacked for a 'racial slur'. The reports that I have seen of this case state that Rob Blair said the word 'coon'. The actual recording suggests otherwise. I wonder if there's also a genuine slip of the ear here. http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Jan-18-Tue-2005/news/25683849.ht ml Sound files, which I have examined, are available online. I'm not sure about copyright issues. Stary scuff... Robin Lickley Dr Robin Lickley Speech and Hearing Sciences and Speech Science Research Centre School of Social Sciences, Media and Communication Faculty of Health and Social Sciences Queen Margaret University College Edinburgh EH12 8TS 0131 317 3686