lapsus linguæ

— In view of the only too obvious and universally acknowledged fact that a man’s general trend of conversation, like his deeds, expresses his character, it is amusing to see with what incredulity persons will often receive the statement that the finer details of speech and action (such as ‘slips of the tongue’ and the previously mentioned ‘slips of the pen’) are significant as well. A man once even argued with me that the manner of a handshake possessed no significance. And lapsus linguæ are often accounted one of the pet absurdities of the Freudians.