In praise of typos, errors, and slips of the tongue. In Krytyka, No. 11-12 (145-146), 2009, p. 27.

The article is a review of Mykhailo Minakov’s book Толковый словарь опечаток, слов живаго суржика бытия (An Explanatory Dictionary of Typos, Words of the Living Surzhyk of Being). The author stresses the importance of a thorough examination of the errors inherent in everyday speech, which the lexical norm pushes to the margins. He appeals to Sigmund Freud’s teaching that slips of the tongue reveal our repressed desires. Minakov’s dictionary is presented primarily as an art project. It contains misprints composed of two or more words whose combination produces unexpected, often ironic connotations. Citing a number of examples of such unintentional yet not accidental wordplay, the author uses them to diagnose the political and cultural problems of Ukrainian society.