This week: Lethologica Edited by: Legerdemain  
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Lethologica
It happens all the time! I'm trying to think of a word and it's there, just out of reach in my head. And not because I'm old, it happens to young people too.
 What is tip of the tongue phenomenon called? 'The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon or lethologica is "the inability to retrieve a specific word as a response to a visual, auditory, or tactile presentation."2 Even though the person will know the word they're trying to think of, it remains elusive and just outside of mental reach.'
The coinage of this term is popularly attributed to psychologist Carl Jung in the early 20th Century, but the earliest clear record is in the 1915 edition of Dorland's American Illustrated Medical Dictionary. Lethonomia is “the inability to recall the right name.”
And it happens to you: 'Tip-of-the-tongue states are believed to affect the average adult about once a week. While it's more common among older people, researchers note, that's not necessarily a bad thing or a warning sign of cognitive failure.' Researchers propose an important role is played by blocking words whose intrusions hinder access to the correct targets.
Now if the tip of your tongue tingles, it could be a sign of anxiety. You could have anomic aphasia. This goes by several other names, like anomia, amnesic aphasia, and anomic dysphasia. People with this language disorder often feel they have words on the tip of their tongue. They can still otherwise speak fluently and grammatically correctly. They may have particular trouble with nouns and verbs.
Let me throw a little more in here for you to ponder. Confabulation is a neuropsychiatric disorder wherein a patient generates a false memory without the intention of deceit. Déjà vu is especially common in people with certain neurological disorders such as epilepsy. In both cases, a compelling feeling of familiarity occurs, and we try to make sense of it by telling ourselves we must have seen or learned something before. Confabulation is more common than we realize.
What is the best way for a person to overcome the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon?
Think about the length of the word or concept.
Stop trying to remember the information you want to retrieve.
Name the letters that start or end the word.
Think about words that may sound like the word you are trying to retrieve.
I hope this helps, and Write On!
This month's question: What little tricks do you use to remember something? Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback!
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Excerpt: “Your amnesia goes that far back?”
Excerpt: It was no secret. Sigmund--so it was said with certainty from Milan to Minsk, from Harvard to Honolulu—would present a new and revolutionary conjecture on memory loss.
Excerpt: The bike was perfect. It was a blaring, bright blue with yellow trim and a little white basket.
Or maybe it was silver. Maybe it had a green basket.
Excerpt: “Interesting.” Lenses zoomed in, scanning every detail.
“You’ve found something?” Dr. Zed’s assistant commented from the other side of the lab.
“I’m not sure,” the old professor admitted. “It’s not like the other interfaces we’ve found at the site. This device seems to be a receiver of some sort.” Its constituent parts lay strewn across the table, each one precisely labeled. “Based on it’s primitive structure, I’d say this was some sort of apparatus for receiving radio waves.”
“Radio waves? Whatever for?”
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A swing tempts an old person to a last fling of youth. Winner of Personify Writing Contest
#2293632 by Beholden   |
Excerpt: I see the longing in your eye.
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When Bridget sees an opportunity to help her ailing friends, she takes it.
#2220725 by Bilal Latif  |
Excerpt: Bridget stared at the blue sedan receding up the street and stopped it with her mind.
Tyres’ screech echoing off the tenements on either side, the car thumped to a halt. Beside Bridget, Liz murmured, “I hope she was strapped in.”
Bridget exhaled, leaning against the wall. “She?”
Liz glanced at the tablet. “Plate data shows the owner as Gabrielle Stoughton.”
Stoughton. The name was familiar, but the brewing headache worsened by Bridget’s furrowed brow impeded deeper thought. “Is she on the Protected List?”
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This month's question: What little tricks do you use to remember something? Send in your answer below! Editors love feedback!
Last month's "Short Stories Newsletter (January 3, 2024)" question: Do you find joy in finding just the right word to describe something?
dragonwoman : Yes, I do. I don't search too far for it, but I try to leave ordinary words behind every so often to shock the reader.
Jay O'Toole  : I do look for the right word. It is a joy. Sometimes it comes more readily to my poetry than to my prose.
s : The problem is, I tend to find the right word about two weeks after it's been published...
jackson  : Mostly, I find satisfaction; something akin to joy might come along now and then.
oldgreywolf scribbles : Sometimes the "right" word is obscure to many people. As I'm not a grammarian, I'd rather use several reasonably common words to express myself than confuse the reader.
tj ~ endeavors to persevere!  : No, I find a thesaurus to find just the right word. There is satisfaction, however.
Tannus : Absolutely, Positively Yes!
J.R. PETE : Most definitely. I will sometimes look for hours, stopping my whole process for just the right word, no concept, no expression, no term, no utterance, no-no-no - - I got it - Word! 
Incurable Romantic : DEFINITELY. Every single time! 
Bonnie8910 : It's always very satisfying, especially if you spent a while trying to find it.
HollisFrances : yes!
elephantsealer : Isn't it wonderful when one can find "just the right word" when writing? It makes life much more deliriously happy...
joemjackson : Not really. Simple vocabulary.
TheBusmanPoet : Yes.
SandraLynn Team Florent! : I like the sound of the German word for snowflake, schneeflocke. If muttered with the right amount of frustration it sounds like a curse word. Apparently, the Inuit have several words for snow, too.
Moonstone : All the time! It takes a really good amount of work and looking up synonyms to find it, but once you do it is an amazing feeling. And it's even better when that word was on the tip of your tongue, and you figure it out.
Bob : I once purchased a thesaurus to help find synonyms and used it often to improve my word choices. Someone liked it better than I did and stole it. I miss my thesaurus.
Paul  : Bob Get a new one, they’re cheap.
Then find who took the other one and make them eat it, page by page.
Bob : Paul - It was battery driven, but I like the idea.
Thodin Thorsson : Yes, yes I do very much.
MissySu : Yes
deemac  : It's all to do with what's around you. Why, over here in Ireland they say there's 20 words for 'green'! 
A great big thank you to everyone who responded! Leger~ |
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Short Stories: January 31, 2024 Issue [#12382]
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