# Is there a name for this effect? Does anyone else get it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 24, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847 "2009-01-24T23:32:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/1 "2009-01-24T23:32:00Z")
You read a word repeatedly, then it starts to look “unfamiliar”. I was going to pose a question on religious “science” groups, then decided to look them up on Wikipedia first. The word science just looked “odd” after a while, because I was searching for it so much I guess. Anyone else get that? ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/2 "2009-01-24T23:43:33Z")
Yep, definitely. I don’t know what you’d call it though. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/3 "2009-01-24T23:47:22Z")
How about we call it “Disrememberization”? ---
**Author:** ![MHaye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@MHaye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MHaye)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/4 "2009-01-24T23:50:57Z")
What I find is that a word you see over and over again loses meaning. It just becomes a random jumble of letters. Is that the sort of effect you’re thinking of? I don’t know if there’s a word for it either. However, it may be the origin of the convention that you don’t repeat a word too often in a sentence or paragraph. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/5 "2009-01-24T23:53:54Z")
I once - as a recent transplant to New Mexico - had a horrible job at work which for various reasons resulted in me needing to hand-address several dozen postcards to different addresses in Albuquerque. It only takes a couple times for Albuquerque to start looking totally nonsensical. Then I started doubting I was spelling it right. Then it just gave me a headache. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/6 "2009-01-25T00:02:08Z")
> [@MHaye](#): > > What I find is that a word you see over and over again loses meaning. It just becomes a random jumble of letters. Is that the sort of effect you’re thinking of? Pretty much, I ended up looking at the word “science” and thinking, “that means all those guys in white coats doesn’t it?” (or thoughts to that effect). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/7 "2009-01-25T00:10:45Z")
Elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow. Elbow. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/8 "2009-01-25T00:27:26Z")
Mushroom mushroom mushroom mushroom… ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/9 "2009-01-25T00:29:14Z")
people, people, people ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/10 "2009-01-25T00:46:51Z")
[Semantic saturation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_saturation), among others: > [@](#): > > The phrase semantic satiation was coined by Leon Jakobovits James in his doctoral dissertation at McGill University, Montreal, Canada awarded in 1962. Prior to that, the expression “verbal satiation” had been used along with terms that express the idea of mental fatigue. Here is a paragraph from that dissertation: > > “Many other names have been used for what appears to be essentially the same process: inhibition (Herbert, 1824, in Boring, 1950), refractory phase and mental fatigue (Dodge, 1917; 1926a), lapse of meaning (Bassett and Warne, 1919), work decrement (Robinson and Bills, 1926), cortical inhibition (Pavlov, 192?), adaptation (Gibson, 1937), extinction (Hilgard and Marquis, 1940), satiation (Kohler and Wallach, 1940), reactive inhibition (Hull, 19113 [sic]), stimulus satiation (Glanzer, 1953), reminiscence (Eysenck, 1956), verbal satiation (Smith and Raygor, 1956), and verbal transformation (Warren, 1961b).” (From Leon Jakobovits James, 1962) It may also have relevance to music: > [@](#): > > The phenomenon was also shown to apply at the macro level by analyzing the life span of popular hit songs as given in weekly charts by trade magazines. Songs that were instant hits, taking only a few weeks to rise to the top, disappeared from the ratings charts faster than songs that took more weeks to rise to the top ten. The explanation was that the fast-rising hit songs get played on the radio more frequently (by all disc jockeys), creating semantic satiation of those songs in listeners more rapidly than songs that are introduced and played gradually. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/11 "2009-01-25T00:49:12Z")
Also annoying is then looking up the word for the correct spelling, check the spelling, then closing the dictionary and realizing you have already immediately forgotten how it is spelled and have to look it up yet again. There is a word for doing that but, of course, I have forgotten what that word is. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/12 "2009-01-25T01:05:18Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow elbow. > > Elbow. El bow? I don’t think it works in Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/13 "2009-01-25T01:09:13Z")
Forgot to mention, I call it “the elbow effect”. It’s much catchier than the equally alliterative “semantic saturation” which, let’s be frank, sounds a bit rude. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/14 "2009-01-25T01:14:12Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > You read a word repeatedly, then it starts to look “unfamiliar”. > > I was going to pose a question on religious “science” groups, then decided to look them up on Wikipedia first. The word science just looked “odd” after a while, because I was searching for it so much I guess. > > Anyone else get that? Yeees! It is incredibly obnoxious. I find that the threshold is at about 10 repetitions for an ordinary 2 syllable word, less if the word sounds unusual, or is longer, or both. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/15 "2009-01-25T01:18:44Z")
I get this, now and then…I thought it just meant I had a rotten brain! ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/16 "2009-01-25T02:10:26Z")
I’ve heard it called “semantic disassociation”, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/17 "2009-01-25T02:20:03Z")
It sometimes happens to me now, but happened quite often when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/18 "2009-01-25T02:26:43Z")
> [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](#): > > It sometimes happens to me now, but happened quite often when I was a kid. I was just thinking the same thing: “Yep, I know that, happens to me all the…wait, I can’t remember it happening for years.” Maybe it’s something you grow out of eventually. I can remember it a lot in my high school/college years, but never in the last decade or so. I can’t even do it with “elbow” or “hello” now. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/19 "2009-01-25T02:40:54Z")
I have a background in typesetting and proofreading, and I can’t tell you how many times someone shows a coworker a common word, and asks whether it’s misspelled. "nonsense nonsense nonsense nonsense nonsense nonsense nonsense nonsense nonsense nonsense nonsense nonsense nonsense nonsense nonsense’ Instead of looking at the two syllables “non” and “sense”, you start looking at “nonse” and “nse” or “no” and “nsense” or “nons” and “ense”. Once the word starts breaking up randomly, it no longer has any meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847/20 "2009-01-25T02:46:31Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Forgot to mention, I call it “the elbow effect”. > > It’s much catchier than the equally alliterative “semantic saturation” which, let’s be frank, sounds a bit rude. I ddissagree, jjimm. I think’s nice sounding. It’s alliteration. It’s iambic pentameter. It doesn’t imply self-serving discrepancy. se-MAN-tic SAY-SHE-AY shun. I’m glad you thought of this topic, OP. So now I have a name for one of the cracks in my brain. Not much, but it means something. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-effect-does-anyone-else-get-it/482847.md?page=2)