In the world of political one-upsmanship it only takes moments for any candidate's mistaken words to be used against him, even when they are intentional.

That's what happened when the Republican National Committee tried to bust Barack Obama for pronouncing Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., as "Wellesley-an" while he delivered the commencement address in place of Sen. Ted Kennedy, who was in the hospital earlier this week and whose step-daughter was graduating there Sunday.

The RNC helpfully pointed out that while in Sunrise, Fla., last week, Obama opened by asking voters: “How’s it going Sunshine? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. It’s good to be in Sunshine."

On another occasion, Obama told residents in Sioux Falls, S.D., "Thank you. Thank you, Sioux City."

The Obama campaign, however, confirmed Sunday that the Democratic presidential candidate did, in fact, mean it as a joke when he congratulated university president Michael Roth for his first year at the helm of "Wellesley-an."

Viewers could be forgiven for thinking it was a verbal gaffe as Obama dead-panned the remark. The crowd laughed, not surprisingly ,since the college's own student body president accidentally referred to it as "Wellesley" in the remarks that immediately preceded Obama's speech.

As far as mistakes go, it's not uncommon for Wesleyan University to be confused as Wesleyan College for Women is located in Macon, Ga. There's also Ohio Wesleyan University as well as Wesleyan Universities in Indiana, Texas and Nebraska; and West Virginia, North Carolina and Virginia Wesleyan colleges, just to name a few.

And to bring it full circle, Hillary Clinton graduated from Wellesley College in Wellesley, Mass., the state Kennedy represents.

Click here to see the video of Obama mispronouncing the school