ABSTRACT
Having described the dynamic interplay in dreams between unconscious and conscious, primary and secondary processes of the mind, Sigmund Freud turned to a similar dynamic operating in everyday errors, now widely known as Freudian slips. For Freud, instances of everyday slips and errors included the forgetting of names when, he observed, alternative possible names often come to mind. This is not altogether convincing as an account of the unconscious—conscious dynamic involved in forgetting names. It reads more like an explanation of the answer to a cryptic crossword clue than as substantial evidence for the repressed unconscious cause of this type of Freudian slip. Further everyday slips or errors included for Freud the forgetting of foreign words. Slips of the tongue can also occur due to unconscious identification of one person with another. Other Freudian slips involve miswriting. Instances of slips or bungled actions involve missed appointments.
