The Imp of the Perverse writes
I have never known anyone have this problem so I thought I'd try it out here. Before I was 10 I somehow managed to get the idea of a delicatessen and a hair salon mixed up. I don't know if this had anything to do with the layout of our town but the confusion has stuck and I still have to stop sometimes to sort out the confusion before speaking (I have a few other confused ideas/concepts as well). However it seems like the confusion is now there forever. Whenever I hear 'delicatessen' it immediately brings with it an image of a particular hair salon. I have gotten these two things mixed up in adult company and it has been excruciatingly embarrassing for me to see the...well...pity on people's faces (it seems like pity anyway) and the awkward silence that ensues.
Anyone else have this problem? All I can surmise is that the visual link is just too strong for the rational part of my mind that knows better (or does it?).