# going blank

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-blank/578827>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 18, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-blank/578827 "2011-04-18T13:30:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![carrieryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@carrieryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrieryman)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-blank/578827/1 "2011-04-18T13:30:06Z")

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Is there a word for the condition of when you can’t remember something, not necessarily a word, but anything, when you draw a complete blank about something you should know, like a co-worker’s name or the name of the opposite street from where you live. I’ve coined my own phrase, “hitting a dead brain cell,” which works quite well. But people often look at me oddly when I say it. Is there a more concise noun that can be used to describe this strange phenomenon?

Thanks,  
Carrie

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**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-blank/578827/2 "2011-04-18T13:34:51Z")

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it’s on the tip of my tongue but it just won’t come to me. dang my forgetfulness.

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**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-blank/578827/3 "2011-04-18T13:47:52Z")

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[Senior moment?](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/senior_moment)

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**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-blank/578827/4 "2011-04-18T13:56:28Z")

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I’ve heard brain fart. I personally like a glitch in the matrix.

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**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-blank/578827/5 "2011-04-18T14:04:28Z")

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What’s wrong with drawing a blank? That pretty much sums it up, and you even used it in your OP.

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**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-blank/578827/6 "2011-04-18T14:16:57Z")

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There’s [anomic Aphasia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominal_aphasia), often caused by a stroke or traumatic brain injury.

If caused by psychological, rather than physical, injury, it can be called [lethologica](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethologica)

However both of these are terms for fairly significant impairments, not a brief “glitch in the system.”

Perhaps a “fleeting dysnomia” is accurate.