# Can't find this word (Connor's an idiot)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-this-word-connors-an-idiot/28831>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 10, 2000, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-this-word-connors-an-idiot/28831 "2000-08-10T14:07:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-this-word-connors-an-idiot/28831/1 "2000-08-10T14:07:16Z")

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I’ve had this word on the tip of my tongue, but can’t spit it out.

Say you’re watching a movie set in the 1500s. You see someone with a wristwatch on. WHAT IS THIS CALLED? There’s some word that describes some error in timeline, but I can’t for the life of me remember.

I learned this in like fourth grade. Unfortunately, fourth grade seems to have been replaced in my brain with alcohol and bacon.

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**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-this-word-connors-an-idiot/28831/2 "2000-08-10T14:08:54Z")

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Well it can’t be continuity error, because that’s two words :shrug:.

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**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-this-word-connors-an-idiot/28831/3 "2000-08-10T14:12:32Z")

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I believe the word you’re looking for is “anachronism”, which can refer to anything out of its apparent place in the timestream. Gaslights in the modern US are also an anachronism.

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**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-this-word-connors-an-idiot/28831/4 "2000-08-10T14:13:06Z")

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anachronism

(Especially true if it was a timepiece that was out of place.)

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**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-this-word-connors-an-idiot/28831/5 "2000-08-10T14:18:34Z")

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anachronism

My favorite one I ever caught in a movie was an Indian in an old western with a vaccination mark on his arm.

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**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-find-this-word-connors-an-idiot/28831/6 "2000-08-10T14:22:14Z")

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Woohoo! That’s what I was looking for. I kept sounding out “anarchistic” in my brain. I KNEW that wasn’t it.

Thanks guys.

::waddles off to astound more with his feats of mediocrity::