# Repeating the end of one's spoken sentence to one's self? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 11, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487 "2020-06-11T21:28:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487/1 "2020-06-11T21:28:47Z")
Not at the same volume as the sentence, quite, almost contemplative or as listening to a recording of what one just said. And repeated regularly, not just a one time occurrence. Is there a word for it, and does it indicate anything? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487/2 "2020-06-11T21:31:17Z")
[Shrapnel](https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Shrapnel_(G1)) syndrome? ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487/3 "2020-06-11T21:36:18Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > [Shrapnel](https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Shrapnel_(G1)) syndrome? Hmmmm…I’ll check out WebMD and see what they say. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487/4 "2020-06-11T21:39:03Z")
I had a friend whose half brother would repeat the last thing he said almost under his breath whenever he said anything, maybe it’s some form of echolalia or something I don’t know. From all accounts his brother didn’t have the best social skills but was extremely smart, their Dad was a chemical engineer. I haven’t kept up with the family so I don’t know what became of him. ---
**Author:** ![FastDan1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fastdan1/32/427_2.png) [@FastDan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FastDan1)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487/5 "2020-06-11T21:41:56Z")
The character Brick Heck did this the the TV show The Middle. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487/6 "2020-06-11T21:55:40Z")
> [@pool](#): > > I had a friend whose half brother would repeat the last thing he said almost under his breath whenever he said anything, maybe it’s some form of echolalia or something I don’t know. From all accounts his brother didn’t have the best social skills but was extremely smart, their Dad was a chemical engineer. I haven’t kept up with the family so I don’t know what became of him. Yeah, that sounds about right… ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487/7 "2020-06-11T22:05:29Z")
> [@FastDan1](#): > > The character Brick Heck did this the the TV show The Middle. You’re right, I had forgotten about that. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487/8 "2020-06-11T22:08:13Z")
Like Jimmy Two Times from Goodfellas? [Jimmy Two Times Goodfellas - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfW-MPUjC_0) ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487/9 "2020-06-11T22:11:10Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Like Jimmy Two Times from Goodfellas? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfW-MPUjC\_0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfW-MPUjC_0) No. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487/10 "2020-06-11T22:49:12Z")
Palilalia. Not a lot out there on it. > **[Palilalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palilalia)** > > Palilalia (from the Greek πάλιν (pálin) meaning "again" and λαλιά (laliá) meaning "speech" or "to talk"), a complex tic, is a language disorder characterized by the involuntary repetition of syllables, words, or phrases. It has features resembling other complex tics such as echolalia or coprolalia, but, unlike other aphasias, palilalia is based upon contextually correct speech. > It was originally described by Alexandre-Achille Souques in a patient with stroke that resulted in left-side hemiplegi... Great. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487/11 "2020-06-11T23:14:12Z")
> [@FastDan1](#): > > The character Brick Heck did this the the TV show The Middle. “The middle” ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487/12 "2020-06-11T23:19:45Z")
Both of our sons did it as kids. They both do it occasionally as young adults, but not very often. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487/13 "2020-06-12T11:25:04Z")
A friend of mine did this quite noticeably as a kid, and I think still does to some extent. Although (I believe) he was born in the UK and English is his first language, at least one other language was commonly used at his home (although his parents also spoke perfect English), and we lived in an area where non-whites, such as him, were an extreme minority. I never asked him or teased him about it, but I suspect it was his way of checking that what he had just said made sense, possibly stemming from a fear that others might make fun of him if he mis-spoke. On the other hand, it was probably a largely unconscious tic. Maybe I’ll ask him about it some day, but we haven’t seen each other in years. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487/14 "2020-06-12T11:51:06Z")
Songwriter. I could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487/15 "2020-06-12T14:01:43Z")
My son does it and he’s on the spectrum. I think I do it sometimes (hard to catch myself) and suspect I’m at least scraping the spectrum in a Facebook Test sort of way. This isn’t a suggestion that anyone who does it is potentially ASD. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeating-the-end-of-ones-spoken-sentence-to-ones-self/855487/16 "2020-06-13T02:53:14Z")
Echolalia, Autism Spectrum Disorder, OCD.