Opinion / Columnist
Mugabe speech mix-ups: Common error
16 Sep 2015 at 06:32hrs | Views
PRESIDENT Mugabe's delivery of a wrong speech in Parliament yesterday is a fairly common mistake that leaders make at local and international forums, it has been established.
In the world of speech-making and other ceremonies, making a verbal or etiquette mistake is generally referred to as a faux pas. Interestingly, even the most powerful leaders in America and Europe have not been immune to the false step with US President Barack Obama and UK Prime Minister David Cameron making speech mix-ups in recent times.
In March 2009, Mr Obama read the speech of the Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen after the teleprompter mixed up their speeches and he ended up thanking himself for the invitation.
The widely reported incident happened during an address at the White House to mark St Patrick's Day. For his part, the guest leader Prime Minister Cowen, opened his remarks by saying "We begin today by welcoming a strong friend of the United States."
He reportedly stopped well into the speech.
Mr Obama's predecessor George W. Bush was also noted, rather notoriously, for making mistakes in speeches to the extent that a new phrase, "bushism", was coined to describe his unusual speech mistakes.
In February 2011 at the United Nations, India's external affairs minister SM Krishna inadvertently read out the speech of the Portuguese foreign minister.
US presidential hopeful and US Secretary of State made an embarrassing blooper in 2012 when she gave Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a mock "reset" button to symbolise the US' intention to mend relations with Kremlin.
However, in the infamous incident the American team erred in translation as they used a Russian word meaning, "overloaded" or "overcharged".
Just this year, UK Premier David Cameron had a mix up of his own favourite football teams!
According to one report, in a speech outlining his vision for ethnic minority communities, Cameron said: "We are a shining example of a country where multiple identities work."
Supporting different football and other sporting teams was part of that but, he said, "Of course, I'd rather you supported West Ham."
This shocked his audiences because he is a known Aston Villa fan.
He later blamed the gaffe on "brain fade". The incident at Parliament generated a lot of social media debate among Zimbabweans on Tuesday.
In the world of speech-making and other ceremonies, making a verbal or etiquette mistake is generally referred to as a faux pas. Interestingly, even the most powerful leaders in America and Europe have not been immune to the false step with US President Barack Obama and UK Prime Minister David Cameron making speech mix-ups in recent times.
In March 2009, Mr Obama read the speech of the Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen after the teleprompter mixed up their speeches and he ended up thanking himself for the invitation.
The widely reported incident happened during an address at the White House to mark St Patrick's Day. For his part, the guest leader Prime Minister Cowen, opened his remarks by saying "We begin today by welcoming a strong friend of the United States."
He reportedly stopped well into the speech.
Mr Obama's predecessor George W. Bush was also noted, rather notoriously, for making mistakes in speeches to the extent that a new phrase, "bushism", was coined to describe his unusual speech mistakes.
In February 2011 at the United Nations, India's external affairs minister SM Krishna inadvertently read out the speech of the Portuguese foreign minister.
US presidential hopeful and US Secretary of State made an embarrassing blooper in 2012 when she gave Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a mock "reset" button to symbolise the US' intention to mend relations with Kremlin.
However, in the infamous incident the American team erred in translation as they used a Russian word meaning, "overloaded" or "overcharged".
Just this year, UK Premier David Cameron had a mix up of his own favourite football teams!
According to one report, in a speech outlining his vision for ethnic minority communities, Cameron said: "We are a shining example of a country where multiple identities work."
Supporting different football and other sporting teams was part of that but, he said, "Of course, I'd rather you supported West Ham."
This shocked his audiences because he is a known Aston Villa fan.
He later blamed the gaffe on "brain fade". The incident at Parliament generated a lot of social media debate among Zimbabweans on Tuesday.
Source - the herald
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