Misspeak

Uncanned Laughter

A misused word, a misremembered song lyric, a cream pie that just happened to be there: tell us about a time you (or someone else) said or did something unintentionally funny.

My dad, as I’ve said before, was not a funny man.  He enjoyed good humor as much as anyone else, but he himself couldn’t get a joke off the ground.  When he was funny, it was by accident.  That, of course, made the incident even more enjoyable for the rest of us.

We had just moved from Oregon back to southern Minnesota. Dad had been invited to be the pastor of a small church in a small town, and of course we didn’t know anyone yet. Nor did we know where to go for dental emergencies.

Dad’s upper teeth had all been pulled years before, when he was still in Bible college.  Having them pulled was a horrendous experience for him, but it left him with a very nice set of false teeth.  I don’t remember what had happened, but there was some kind of break in the plate that needed to be repaired. Dad decided to call the home of one of the church deacons to inquire about a dentist who could help him out.

When  the deacon’s wife answered the phone in the home, my dad said, “Hello, Mrs. X.  I have a little problem here.  I’m wondering if you can tell me where to get my falsies fixed.”

 

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