# Help me remember a word **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-word/805536 "2017-12-29T19:37:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-word/805536/1 "2017-12-29T19:37:30Z")
I’m trying to remember a word. The concept is similar to pentimento, that is, layers from underneath showing through. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-word/805536/2 "2017-12-29T19:43:55Z")
Palimpsest? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-word/805536/3 "2017-12-29T19:46:15Z")
Sorry I can’t think of more detail at the moment. This would apply to language, like a poem having layers of meaning. The metaphor would be like looking through, for example, many panes of glass stacked on top of each other. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-word/805536/4 "2017-12-29T19:49:49Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > Palimpsest? BINGO! Your prize will arrive later today. (I hope you have hay, oats, and a warm outbuilding on hand.) ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-word/805536/5 "2017-12-29T23:30:17Z")
Well, my daughter will thank you a million times even if my expressed feelings will be more…restrained. I thought I’d missed the mark because of your second post, and I didn’t know what else to say because “palimpsest” doesn’t to me suggest viewing through layers of glass, but it’s always nice to be helpful. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-word/805536/6 "2017-12-30T00:37:39Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > Well, my daughter will thank you a million times even if my expressed feelings will be more…restrained. > > I thought I’d missed the mark because of your second post, and I didn’t know what else to say because “palimpsest” doesn’t to me suggest viewing through layers of glass, but it’s always nice to be helpful. I posted my second comment even as you were composing your reply. I thought my OP was very terse and I wanted to add to it, but you were already hard at work. I was telling a friend about the remarkable book, [Life After Life by Kate Atkinson](https://smile.amazon.com/Life-After-Novel-Kate-Atkinson-ebook/dp/B008TUQ60G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1514593928&sr=8-1&keywords=life+after+life), possibly my favorite book of all time. The main character relives certain events in her life over and over with slightly different outcomes. It’s not exactly reincarnation, but an overlaying of events with slight (or major) differences. It’s an incredible book and the author must have used zillions of post-it notes when building the multi-dimensional plot. I was searching for the word besides “pentimento” that might convey this idea of different layers showing through. My friend and I couldn’t figure out how to google for the answer, so naturally, I posted here and _voila!_ the answer appeared only six minutes later. Many thanks! I hope your daughter enjoys the pony. Her name is Ursula. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-word/805536/7 "2017-12-30T02:21:04Z")
My cat’s name is Ursula! And my horse is Ariel. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-word/805536/8 "2017-12-30T02:40:44Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > My cat’s name is Ursula! And my horse is Ariel. Ursula is a bear-y good name for a cat. 🙂 Ursula is also the main character in \*Life After Life. \* ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-word/805536/9 "2017-12-30T02:50:15Z")
Hey ThelmaLou, happy to help and thanks for the recommendation, been looking for a good book. Umm…this isn’t Cafe Society…so…facts. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-remember-a-word/805536/10 "2017-12-30T03:49:38Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > Hey ThelmaLou, happy to help and thanks for the recommendation, been looking for a good book. Umm…this isn’t Cafe Society…so…facts. It is a FACT that that is a very good book. _\_