Did you not think 'sword'? Why was your first impression a non-existent word rather than the real one that already exists?

Every word sounds like some other words. Most adults make peace with this situation. But this reminds me of the crisis that ocurred a few years ago in the Washington, DC city government when a councilmember used the word “niggardly” in a meeting and other semi-literate councilmembers had strokes and heart attacks. This actually became an issue that was talked about for months.