A childhood belief about speaking

When I was 9 I overheard my mother talking to a guy friend. Well I was across the room but I swore I had heard him say he was a lesbian. This confused me greatly because I knew lesbians were women and this was clearly a man. I didn't know what to make of it so I put in the back of my mind for a while. A while later he came back to visit and as he was leaving my brother pulled in the driveway and when he came in the door he asked who it was that was leaving our house. My mother replied "Oh that was Mark. Cynthia's husband" and I eagerly added "Yeah and he's a lesbian!" with much enthusiasm. My mom looked at me bewildered and asked where I had gotten that idea. I told her from the visit before, he had said he was a lesbian. She still looked confused a few seconds when it dawned on her and she started cracking up laughing. "He said he was a thespian not lesbian, you silly girl!". Apparently when across the room and listening to the t.v. the word thespian can sound a lot like lesbian to a child.