# Is there a word for

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for/53565>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 8, 2001, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for/53565 "2001-02-08T00:03:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\
**Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for/53565/1 "2001-02-08T00:03:17Z")

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…the condition where if you look at a word long enough it doesn’t really register as a word anymore? For example, I just looked through the butter thread in IMHO, and by the end of the thread, the word 'butter" didn’t seem right,just kind of looked like a random and meaningless collection of letters.

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**Author:** ![Zweistein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/54ee81/32.png) [@Zweistein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zweistein)\
**Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for/53565/2 "2001-02-08T00:21:42Z")

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The word for seeing letters but not recognising them,  
and therefore confusing them is dislexia.

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**Author:** ![aramis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@aramis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aramis)\
**Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for/53565/3 "2001-02-08T01:37:06Z")

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I don’t know about that but there is a term for the verbal equivalent of this, where you repeat a word several times and it seems to lose its meaning. That is called “sematic satiation”.

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**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\
**Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for/53565/4 "2001-02-08T02:46:47Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by aramis \*  
> \*\*“sematic satiation”. \*\*

???

Do you mean sema **n** tic satiation, perhaps? Or have I just learned (of) a new word?

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**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\
**Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for/53565/5 "2001-02-08T02:56:18Z")

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And it’s dyslexia.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2001, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for/53565/6 "2001-02-09T07:21:01Z")

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Are you sure? I’ve always spelled it dsyelaix.

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**Author:** ![Pismonque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/46a35a/32.png) [@Pismonque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pismonque)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2001, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for/53565/7 "2001-02-09T07:41:00Z")

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_Semantic_ just refers to the meaning of a word, with no connotations regarding oral or written language, so I’d guess that _semantic satiation_ would pertain to either.

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**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2001, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for/53565/8 "2001-02-09T10:30:31Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> “sematic satiation”

Don’t you mean “semitic satiation”? Y’know, a whole buncha semites? 😃