# I just can't remember the phrase... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 27, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-cant-remember-the-phrase/687126 "2014-04-27T17:43:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Why\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b782af/32.png) [@Why\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_Child)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-cant-remember-the-phrase/687126/1 "2014-04-27T17:43:24Z")
I remember hearing a phrase for this and I just can’t remember it. It’s when an odd name or phrase jumps out at you more often over the course of a day or two. You’re standing behind two people at the grocery store, and overhear one person say to another, “Blah, blah, blah, _moo goo gai pan_, blah blah.” You think nothing of it. Later, you are reading a book, and a character is eating moo goo gai pan. Watching the television, two people are going out for moo goo gai pan. A friend comes over and the two of you decide to order Chinese food, and sure enough, they order moo goo gai pan!! It happened to me two days ago with the name “Fiona” and it’s been driving me crazy ever since. Does anyone know it? Another phrase I read in a book, made a mental note to look it up, but I kept reading, then forgot. :smack: (It was a work of fiction, so I accept that it might not be a real phrase.) According to the book, there is a French phrase for what we Americans call “copping a feel.” (Teenager at the movies puts his elbow a little too far over the armrest to brush his date’s breast with his elbow…man standing in subway car crowds pretty woman in front of him…that sort of thing.) I forgot all about it until I saw a commercial on SyFy in which an odd little man was standing in an elevator with a beautiful woman, and just as he begins to edge closer to her with a strange little leer on his face, suddenly long metal spikes come out all over her body. Every now and then, when my brain isn’t doing anything else, it asks me what that phrase was, and I have no answer for it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-cant-remember-the-phrase/687126/2 "2014-04-27T21:11:29Z")
one name for the first question is [the-baader-meinhof-phenomenon](http://www.damninteresting.com/the-baader-meinhof-phenomenon/) I have also heard it called confirmation bias ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-cant-remember-the-phrase/687126/3 "2014-04-27T22:37:37Z")
My guess on why it was named **Baader-Meinhoff phenomenon** isn’t because of the group themselves but because the first person who named it had just learned of Baader-Meinhof Syndrome. That would make more sense as historically what they did has nearly been forgotten but their names live on in the behavior of people who, being held captive, tend to develop an attachment of their captors. And that’s the context in which we usually hear those names. Usually when something like this happens to me the reference is so obscure that it seems otherworldly to keep appearing like it does. But a couple of months ago I was Baader-Meinhofed by Kevin Bacon for about three weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-cant-remember-the-phrase/687126/4 "2014-04-28T00:16:54Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > My guess on why it was named **Baader-Meinhoff phenomenon** isn’t because of the group themselves but because the first person who named it had just learned of Baader-Meinhof Syndrome. > > That would make more sense as historically what they did has nearly been forgotten but their names live on in the behavior of people who, being held captive, tend to develop an attachment of their captors. And that’s the context in which we usually hear those names. That’s actually [Stockholm Syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome) that you’re thinking of, when captives sympathize with their captors. The person who coined the name of the B-M phenomenon [had heard of the gang twice in 24 hours, for the first time](http://www.psmag.com/culture/theres-a-name-for-that-the-baader-meinhof-phenomenon-59670/). ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-cant-remember-the-phrase/687126/5 "2014-04-28T00:21:49Z")
Deja vu goo gai pan. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-cant-remember-the-phrase/687126/6 "2014-04-28T04:49:49Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > That’s actually [Stockholm Syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome) that you’re thinking of, when captives sympathize with their captors. The person who coined the name of the B-M phenomenon [had heard of the gang twice in 24 hours, for the first time](http://www.psmag.com/culture/theres-a-name-for-that-the-baader-meinhof-phenomenon-59670/). You’re right, **Ferret Herder**! I wonder if that’s the message Kevin Bacon was trying to get through to me. . .😃 ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-cant-remember-the-phrase/687126/7 "2014-04-28T07:54:39Z")
> [@Why\_Child](#): > > Another phrase I read in a book, made a mental note to look it up, but I kept reading, then forgot. :smack: (It was a work of fiction, so I accept that it might not be a real phrase.) According to the book, there is a French phrase for what we Americans call “copping a feel.” (Teenager at the movies puts his elbow a little too far over the armrest to brush his date’s breast with his elbow…man standing in subway car crowds pretty woman in front of him…that sort of thing.) I forgot all about it until I saw a commercial on SyFy in which an odd little man was standing in an elevator with a beautiful woman, and just as he begins to edge closer to her with a strange little leer on his face, suddenly long metal spikes come out all over her body. > Every now and then, when my brain isn’t doing anything else, it asks me what that phrase was, and I have no answer for it. ☹ [Frotteurism?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frotteurism) > [@](#): > > Frotteurism is a paraphilic interest in rubbing, usually one’s pelvis or erect penis, against a non-consenting person for sexual gratification. It may involve touching any part of the body including the genital area. I heard that it’s so common in French subways that a lot of women just tolerate it. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-cant-remember-the-phrase/687126/8 "2014-04-28T07:55:43Z")
Another name for it is _frequency illusion_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-cant-remember-the-phrase/687126/9 "2014-04-28T10:24:59Z")
This happens to me all the time, most recently with _umami_, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-cant-remember-the-phrase/687126/10 "2014-04-28T12:11:40Z")
Synchronicity? For the first one, not the second. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-cant-remember-the-phrase/687126/11 "2014-04-28T12:25:26Z")
Confirmation bias? ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-cant-remember-the-phrase/687126/12 "2014-04-28T13:10:31Z")
Reminds me of Repo Man. > [@](#): > > Miller: A lot o’ people don’t realize what’s really going on. They view life as a bunch o’ unconnected incidents ‘n things. They don’t realize that there’s this, like, lattice o’ coincidence that lays on top o’ everything. Give you an example; show you what I mean: suppose you’re thinkin’ about a plate o’ shrimp. Suddenly someone’ll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o’ shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin’ for one, either. It’s all part of a cosmic unconciousness. > > Otto: You eat a lot of acid, Miller, back in the hippie days? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-cant-remember-the-phrase/687126/13 "2014-04-28T13:44:17Z")
Prophecy! ---
**Author:** ![Why\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b782af/32.png) [@Why\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_Child)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-cant-remember-the-phrase/687126/14 "2014-04-30T04:15:01Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > Frotteurism? YES!! In my original post I wanted to say that the word reminded me of the French word for cheese, “fromage,” but it seemed so strange to relate the two, I decided it was just a French word, and that was why it reminded me of the phrase I wanted. I chose not to mention it in case I sent someone on a wild goose chase and never got my answer. I now know it was the “fro” that I had fixed on, and THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! 🆒😃 > [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > one name for the first question is [the-baader-meinhof-phenomenon](http://www.damninteresting.com/the-baader-meinhof-phenomenon/) > > I have also heard it called confirmation bias I think that it was the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. Confirmation bias seems like “you want to hear it, so you do,” and that is not so much the way I remember the term. And THANK YOU,TOO!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BigDadWolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@BigDadWolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDadWolf)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-cant-remember-the-phrase/687126/15 "2014-04-30T05:20:17Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > Reminds me of Repo Man. Exactly - the term my friend and I use for the described phenomena is “plate 'o shrimp”.