Saturday, December 29, 2012

* I WONDER ABOUT WORDS AND MEMORY *

I Wonder


 I haven't posted an I Wonder in a long time.
I wonder why?



Oh, how annoying it is to suffer from lethologica, especially when you're a writer....

I wonder how many of you have heard of this word? I certainly hadn't until I accidentally came across it the other day. And oh, what a perfect word for so many of us.....   

lethologica ~ LĒTH ō LŎJ-ik ă  


noun: the inability to remember a word or put your finger on the right word.


Ah yes, and sometimes it's worse being on the receiving end of a conversation......

~~~

The Ronald: "Look at the guy in this commercial."

Becky: "Which one?"

The Ronald: "That blonde guy. Wasn't he in that TV show that used to be on?"

Becky: "What TV show?"

The Ronald: "Oh you know. That one about cops and detectives. We used to watch it all the time."

Becky: "We've watched lots of shows that sound like that. Can you give me a little more information, like what decade it was??"

....and my exasperation goes on...





"I always have trouble remembering three things: faces, names, and -- I can't remember what the third thing is." -- Fred Allen

18 comments:

  1. Ha! Yes, the decade would be a big clue, wouldn't it? For people like us who have been around for *coughcough* more than a few decades, cop shows could be anything from Kojak to NYPD Blue to Law and Order to Hawaii Five-O etc etc.

    Oh man, my memory is so full of holes . . . wait, what was the question again?

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  2. Cool word. It happens to me all the time. I don't mind so much in my writing. I just leave a gap and the word I'm looking for comes to me eventually. It's a little more troublesome in real life conversations ;)

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  3. Nice to have a name to put to the condition...if only I'll be able to remember it.

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  4. BEcky, we must be reading the same things! I, too, just ran on this word...great word for sure!

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  5. What a fun word!! When I was in my early 20's, I lived with my grandparents. They used to get Reader's Digest, and there was a section of that magazine I LOVED..."It Pays to Enrich Your Word Power." I devoured that section and always enjoyed learning (and then trying to use) new words. But lethologica was never one of the words I learned. Thanks for broadening my vocabulary.

    Happy new year to you.

    Love,
    Patti

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  6. I love that word and I am going to try to remember it. ;-)

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  7. That happens to me sometimes when I am tired or stressed. Right now, I take a lot of short cuts after a phone call, and tell Cary, "Well, she said ..." and he will say, "I have no idea what you are talking about!" Then I think, I sure do miss the days when you read my mind a bit more, lol!

    I enjoyed catching up, and the stories about your younger days. It makes me sad that your Dad left.

    Hope the New Year is a wonderful one. I need to get over to your Kickstarter and make my pledge.

    Hugs,

    Kathy M.

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  8. Bill and id o this all the time. I need to defrag my memory like a computer, might speed up the retrieval system.

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  9. That's a new word for me. I have a habit of making up my own when I can't think of one.

    My mom and dad both had a habit of substituting words that were close. For example, my dad used to refer to that Goldi Hawn/Meryl Streep movie as She Looks Good Dead. Rather than by its official title: Death Becomes Her.

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  10. The older I get the more I suffer from that!

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  11. I never heard that word before, but I like it.

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  12. BECKY ~
    Check your Email InBox for a message titled 'R U "KICKSTARTER" BECKY?'

    If you find it, you can open it (it's from me with no virus attached).

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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  13. Thank you all so much! I knew this would strike a chord in zillions of readers! :D

    And Stephen T.....Thanks MUCHLY!

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  14. Great word choice, Becky. I hadn't heard of that one, but I do it frequently.

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  15. You always bring a smile. I Love your wit. Mother used to take me everywhere with her as she told everyone, 'she (me) never forgets a name & face' ... I think that attribute is slipping a wee bit.

    Happy New Year ~
    TTFN ~
    Hugs,
    Marydon

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  16. Thank you. I all too often lose words in the porridge in my head. They are there, I know that they are there, and I cannot bring them to the surface. The skinny portion has become adept at charades - the telephone causes more problems though...

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  17. Tee-hee! I had a recent conversation with someone about memory, but as might be expected, the details escape me.

    Pat
    Critter Alley

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  18. I KNOW what it's like to live with this problem. The hubby and I both have it.

    =)

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