Appetite

The Perils of Lipreading

Sometimes they can be very funny!

Posted December 2, 2014

Those of us who don’t hear all that well know that watching the speaker’s lips is essential. Too often what we think we heard (or saw) is not what we heard at all. Only 40 percent of English sounds are visible on the lips.

This results in some hilarious errors — more fun when the joke’s not on us.

Thanks to Slate’s Browbeat for this lipreading of The Hunger Games. Click here.

I thought it might be nice to have a chuckle on this dreary, cold Tuesday after Thanksgiving!

About the Author

Katherine Bouton, a former editor at The New York Times, is the author of Shouting Won't Help: Why I—and 50 Million Other Americans—Can't Hear You.

Online:

katherinebouton.com, Facebook, Twitter