# The the Deja Vu article **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 19, 2008, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-the-deja-vu-article/453459 "2008-06-19T12:05:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SeanArenas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeanArenas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeanArenas)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-the-deja-vu-article/453459/1 "2008-06-19T12:05:21Z")
Article Title: What is déjà vu? Link: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_113.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_113.html) > [@](#): > > If for some reason the impression from part A arrives in one’s consciousness out of sync with the impression from part B, one has the sensation of experiencing the the thing twice. Is the repetition of the word **the** intentional, to impress that we are experiencing the the thing twice? By the way, I seem to remember having read this article once before. Is it, perhaps, _A Straight Dope Classic by Cecil Adams_? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-the-deja-vu-article/453459/2 "2008-06-19T13:05:41Z")
Yes, that’s why it’s listed as a “Straight Dope Classic” on the front page. 😉 The new articles come out only on Fridays, except for the occasional Special Reports from Staff, which usually show up on Tuesdays. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-the-deja-vu-article/453459/3 "2008-06-19T13:39:05Z")
Cecil mentions _jamais vu_ but there’s also, for the sake of completion, _presque vu_. From the Wikipedia article on [Deja vu.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9j%C3%A0_vu) > [@](#): > > Presque vu (from French, meaning “almost seen”) is the sensation of being on the brink of an epiphany. ---
**Author:** ![SeanArenas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeanArenas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeanArenas)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-the-deja-vu-article/453459/4 "2008-06-19T19:24:22Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] Yes, that’s why it’s listed as a “Straight Dope Classic” on the front page. 😉 The new articles come out only on Fridays, except for the occasional Special Reports from Staff, which usually show up on Tuesdays. [/QUOTE] I knew that. It was sarcasm. That’s why I made sure the Edit reason for the post said that I was inserting the dumb joke before someone else does 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Royalblue64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc8723/32.png) [@Royalblue64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royalblue64)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-the-deja-vu-article/453459/5 "2012-12-21T00:39:45Z")
A friend of mine said he thought deja vu is the result of your subconscious mind interpreting something, and when you later consciously perceive it, you feel you have experienced it before but cannot actually remember doing so. For example, you walk into a building that you have never been in before. You’re texting as you walk in, and while you do so you’re consciously thinking about your text but subconsciously receiving data about your surroundings. Once you finish texting and look up, your conscious mind receives this data and you feel you’ve seen it before. Or some experience like that. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-the-deja-vu-article/453459/6 "2012-12-21T05:31:21Z")
It’s like _déjà vu_ all over again! ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-the-deja-vu-article/453459/7 "2012-12-21T11:22:00Z")
I have read this thread before. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-the-deja-vu-article/453459/8 "2012-12-21T12:32:44Z")
It’s entirely possible Cecil is making an obscure joke here with “the the.” And I am just not hip enough to get it. Then again, it’s possible that when this classic column was pulled over to the new server it might have hiccupped. Since it’s usually the better part of wisdom to attribute such things to error rather than wit, I am removing the second “the.” When you think about all the ways and times these articles have been stored and rendered I’m amazed that the bloopers are only occasional. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-the-deja-vu-article/453459/9 "2012-12-21T14:11:08Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > It’s entirely possible Cecil is making an obscure joke here with “the the.” And I am just not hip enough to get it. > > Then again, it’s possible that when this classic column was pulled over to the new server it might have hiccupped. > > Since it’s usually the better part of wisdom to attribute such things to error rather than wit, I am removing the second “the.” When you think about all the ways and times these articles have been stored and rendered I’m amazed that the bloopers are only occasional. I do believe the “the the” duplication was deliberate in the original column-it’s been used before, where the first “the” is at the end of a line and the second “the” is at the beginning of the next line. ---
**Author:** ![nelsonholly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e274bd/32.png) [@nelsonholly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelsonholly)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-the-deja-vu-article/453459/10 "2012-12-30T13:52:36Z")
… Is in Robert Sheckley’s weird book “Mindswap,” (1966) in which he contrasts Don Quixote’s view of the world (everything is strange, romantic, magical etc) with his sidekick Sancho Panza’s view, in which even the strangest things, if experienced daily, become banal and normal. “Panzaism” is depicted as being the chief danger of Mindswap-tourism, where a tourist might end up perceiving an insectoid culture on an ammonia planet as, suddenly, a hick western town complete with saloon girls and handsome sherrifs. Over and out. ---
**Author:** ![medhat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@medhat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medhat)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-the-deja-vu-article/453459/11 "2013-01-04T14:57:58Z")
تُنْطَقُ أيْضَاً بِالْلُغَةِ الْعَرَبِيْةِ (دْه شَافُوه) كَمَا رُوِىَ عَنْ بَعْضِ المُؤَرِخِيْنَ لِمَعْرَكَةِ أبِى قِيْرِ البَحَرِيْةِ فِى الْقَرْنِ الثَامِنِ عَشَرٍ، حَامِلَةُ نَفْسِ الْمَعْنَىَ وَالَذِى وَصَفَهُ جُنُودُ الحَمْلَةِ آنَذَاكَ! Prononcér aussi à Araby (De-cha-fu) par dit en quelquens histoirén dé (Abu Kir) gwar dé la mer dans le temp 1799 anno domini, qui donne le meme défine et qui parle par le armées quand regardons le autré! ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-the-deja-vu-article/453459/12 "2013-01-04T15:57:48Z")
> [@medhat](#): > > تُنْطَقُ أيْضَاً بِالْلُغَةِ الْعَرَبِيْةِ (دْه شَافُوه) كَمَا رُوِىَ عَنْ بَعْضِ المُؤَرِخِيْنَ لِمَعْرَكَةِ أبِى قِيْرِ البَحَرِيْةِ فِى الْقَرْنِ الثَامِنِ عَشَرٍ، حَامِلَةُ نَفْسِ الْمَعْنَىَ وَالَذِى وَصَفَهُ جُنُودُ الحَمْلَةِ آنَذَاكَ! > > Prononcér aussi à Araby (De-cha-fu) par dit en quelquens histoirén dé (Abu Kir) gwar dé la mer dans le temp 1799 anno domini, qui donne le meme défine et qui parle par le armées quand regardons le autré! Well, that definitely clears things up. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-the-deja-vu-article/453459/13 "2013-01-04T16:25:00Z")
> [@medhat](#): > > تُنْطَقُ أيْضَاً بِالْلُغَةِ الْعَرَبِيْةِ (دْه شَافُوه) كَمَا رُوِىَ عَنْ بَعْضِ المُؤَرِخِيْنَ لِمَعْرَكَةِ أبِى قِيْرِ البَحَرِيْةِ فِى الْقَرْنِ الثَامِنِ عَشَرٍ، حَامِلَةُ نَفْسِ الْمَعْنَىَ وَالَذِى وَصَفَهُ جُنُودُ الحَمْلَةِ آنَذَاكَ! > > Prononcér aussi à Araby (De-cha-fu) par dit en quelquens histoirén dé (Abu Kir) gwar dé la mer dans le temp 1799 anno domini, qui donne le meme défine et qui parle par le armées quand regardons le autré! Arabic reads\* right-to-left… why is the exclamation mark at the beginning of the sentence? \*but I don’t read Arabic in any direction, so I have no idea whether the sentence is actually exclamatory