# Help me find the word I can't, er, ah, a, oh yes: remember **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 26, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402 "2010-04-26T15:11:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/21 "2010-04-26T23:33:33Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It might be, but [hypnagogia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia) is the most commonly used term (in my experience) for the state between asleep and awake. **ivan** ’s answer is the correct one for definition given. Cool! That’s good to know! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/22 "2010-04-27T05:21:20Z")
I think this is the right crowd for this anecdote; my uncle says he can’t remember anything, but neither can anyone he talks to of a similar age, so he’s just going to start making shit up now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/23 "2010-04-27T10:57:10Z")
I have this a lot, too. And I’m only 25. And my OCD makes it worse, because the word can’t come back until you stop thinking about it. I was going to describe a specific word I always have trouble with, but I went and forgot it again. Wait, discrepancy. That’s it. Took me 15 seconds or so. Much better than most times I want to use it in a thread. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/24 "2010-04-27T13:53:15Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > John Lithgow? > > [John Lithgow - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001475/) > > Aliens show- Third Rock from Sun > Dancing- Footloose > Airplane- Twilight Zone Movie Yeah, that’s the guy! Good old whatizname. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/25 "2010-04-27T14:40:00Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > So close! I was going to suggest _tocatta_[.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toccata_and_Fugue_in_D_Minor) I see what you did there, Herr Bach. As for the OP’s missing word, I would’ve suggested “drowsing” or “drowsy.” ---
**Author:** ![leandroc76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@leandroc76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leandroc76)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/26 "2010-04-27T14:45:29Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, damn, I’m 34 and I forget people’s names all the time. Forgetting a celebrity’s name is not at all unusual or friends (more like acquaintances) I haven’t talked to in many years. If I don’t use the name, it quickly gets shuffled way back in the memory bank to make room for more recent information. I’m 34 too, I too forget peoples names. What’s funny is that when my wife asks me who that guy or gal is in this movie, I get all locked up fearing I know who he or she is but I know I can’t come up with the name… it happens in an instant. Most of the time it takes a couple seconds to relax and spit out the name, others I have to sit and think even though I probably said his name a thousand time before. The same can be said when I’m singing a song I’ve sung hundreds of times and I’ll forget the lyrics, that was a problem since I was in my teens. ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/27 "2010-04-27T14:46:05Z")
Ahhh, whatizname. I know a lot of those guys/girls. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/28 "2010-04-27T14:55:06Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Yeah, that’s the guy! Good old whatizname. Ah, hell. I college I used to refer to my long-term beau as “what’s his face, my boyfriend”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/29 "2010-04-27T17:32:45Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > I was all ready, based on the title, to come in here and say “aphasia.” Except that [aphasia](http://www.aphasia.org/) is the result of brain damage, and is a language disorder – not simply forgetting or having to reach for the occasional word. I’ve heard it described thus: it’s not forgetting the word “key,” it’s forgetting what the word “key” means. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/30 "2010-04-27T17:41:10Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Ah, hell. I college I used to refer to my long-term beau as “what’s his face, my boyfriend”. 🙂 My father would of refer to me and my brother as “Scott, Bob, Ralph, Jimmy, Joey… what’s your name?” (Neither I or my brother is named Scott, Bob, Ralph, Jimmy, or Joey.) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/31 "2010-04-27T18:30:43Z")
My mom remembers that late in life her dad would, when he wanted one of the kids, call out, “Bobbysuziejohnnygracie!” and all of them were expected to come running. None of them bore any of those names. He would then point to the one he wanted. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/32 "2010-04-27T19:30:05Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > - shuffles out of thread muttering about show-offs and ungrateful so and so’s \* I was gonna suggest hypnagogic, jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/33 "2010-04-27T19:31:07Z")
Oh sorry. Extra punctuation there. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Random\_Design](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58f4c7/32.png) [@Random\_Design](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random_Design)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/34 "2010-04-29T10:53:03Z")
I’m confused. I obviously can’t dispute that fugue state was the word KG was after, but the wiki [page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugue_state) doesn’t seem to reconcile with what’s described in this thread. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/35 "2010-04-29T11:04:13Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Except that [aphasia](http://www.aphasia.org/) is the result of brain damage, and is a language disorder – not simply forgetting or having to reach for the occasional word. I’ve heard it described thus: it’s not forgetting the word “key,” it’s forgetting what the word “key” means. Yep, I was going to say aphasia too but then I double-checked and saw the definition implies a pathological impairment. However, aphasia is not necessarily semantic in nature. A friend of mine was diagnosed with aphasia following a head trauma, and she does just complain of often not being able to find the right word. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/36 "2010-04-29T11:18:42Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > So close! I was going to suggest _tocatta_[.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toccata_and_Fugue_in_D_Minor) Now I’m craving lasagna. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/37 "2010-04-29T14:56:52Z")
> [@Random\_Design](#): > > I’m confused. I obviously can’t dispute that fugue state was the word KG was after, but the wiki [page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugue_state) doesn’t seem to reconcile with what’s described in this thread. > 😕 Yes. Post #9. I’ve heard “fugue state” used in casual conversation a number of times, and it always refers to the psychiatric disorder. Obviously casual use is not going to rigidly comply with DSM-IV definitions of a fugue state, but colloquially, my experience with the usage would be something along the lines of meaning a general dissociative state, while “fugue state” is a more specific form of this involving reversible amnesia. Basically, it might be used in a non-clinical manner to describe someone who is in a sort of “possessed” state. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402/38 "2010-04-29T17:29:21Z")
> [@KlondikeGeoff](#): > > Ha! Movie stars. I will be trying to remember of one while talking to somebody, so I will then say, "You know, he starred in… Then, of course, I can’t recall the name of the movie either. This totally makes me smile. My husband’s horrible with names, either for new acquaintances or big-blockbuster type movie stars. Of course, he’s also not so great at movie or show titles. He’s constantly saying, “you know, that one guy we like. He was in that one movie, you know, the one with the horses and the thing?” It’s a bit like verbal charades. He’s 32. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-word-i-cant-er-ah-a-oh-yes-remember/537402.md?page=1)