Words: dyslexia, n

HAVE YOU noticed how language can mock the afflicted? Dyslexia combines the Greek prefix dys- (indicating abnormality or malfunction) with lexis, (a word), to give us a word so dysfunctional that anyone suffering from it can be guaranteed to misspell their affliction. "Speech therapist" is just as bad, combining all the sounds that anyone needing to ask for a speech therapist might have trouble saying.

A friend once told me of an embarrassing attack of nominal aphasia she had suffered in a restaurant. She had suddenly forgotten the word "knife" and was reduced to asking the waiter for "you know, one of those things you cut with". How wonderful, I thought, that she could forget the word "knife" but have no trouble recalling the phrase "nominal aphasia".