The Freudian Slip Heard Round the World
ATLANTA, GA — CNN anchorwoman Zain Verjee may never live this one down.According to an on-air report she delivered last week, Northwest Airlines now is serving “penis” on flights.
“Northwest began serving penis this month as its merger partner Atlanta-based Delta airlines has done for years,” Verjee told viewers. “Georgia is the top penis-producing state in the country,” she added.
The situation wasn’t helped by CNN’s on-screen caption: “Nuts on Northwest flights.”
Whether Verjee merely tripped over her tongue once and then got caught up in her own embarrassment or had trouble reading the word “peanuts” on the teleprompter is unknown, but she mispronounced the legume three times in the space of a brief report.
Media worldwide couldn’t wait to make sure everyone noticed.
“A U.S. airline is now selling ‘penis’ on flights,” News.com.au trumpeted with undisguised glee.
Verjee’s faux pas littered YouTube almost immediately (TinyURL.com/djkb7c). Within hours, the various incarnations attracted 700,000 viewers.