# The word or phrase **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 6, 2001, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-or-phrase/56895 "2001-03-06T04:36:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TjCrazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@TjCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TjCrazy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-or-phrase/56895/1 "2001-03-06T04:36:01Z")
for when you have learned a new word or phrase and then seem to see that word or phrase everywhere you look. I am fairly sure such a word actually exists, but can’t recall it now. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-or-phrase/56895/2 "2001-03-06T15:23:40Z")
…and _we’re_ certainly not going to tell you, because if we did, you’d see it _everywhere_ then, and it would drive you crazy. So we’re actually doing you a favor. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TjCrazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@TjCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TjCrazy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-or-phrase/56895/3 "2001-03-06T21:36:28Z")
duck, you quack me up ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-or-phrase/56895/4 "2001-03-06T22:04:43Z")
😃 [sub]I know what you mean, but all I can think of is “serendipity”, and that’s not it. Guess you’ll have to wait until Bibliophage gets here.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![TjCrazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@TjCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TjCrazy)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-or-phrase/56895/5 "2001-03-07T04:58:18Z")
the sad thing is i have now almost convinced myself i read of the word in one of cecil’s books. but since i have loaned them all out (in that never ending quest to fight ignorance) i can’t be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Neurodoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/848f3c/32.png) [@Neurodoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurodoc)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-or-phrase/56895/6 "2001-03-10T04:48:49Z")
That is the term you seek. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-or-phrase/56895/7 "2001-03-10T17:44:29Z")
Synchroncity? I disagree, though I cannot offer a better word. Synchonicity would imply a hidden causal relationship between the occurances of the word…though I suppose the cause is, “I just learned this word.” I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![TjCrazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@TjCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TjCrazy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-or-phrase/56895/8 "2001-03-10T20:59:45Z")
yeah i have to agree to disagree, pretty sure i would have remembered that word, what with the police song and all. i am quite sure i read it in a book (a lot of help that is, considering the number i read) but damned if i can recall now. thinking it was one of the books at least in the same ilk as straight dope, like ‘do penguins have knees,’ might just have to plow through all my books. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-or-phrase/56895/9 "2001-03-12T23:18:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\*[sub]Guess you’ll have to wait until Bibliophage gets here.[/sub] > \*\* My ears are ringing. I don’t know a specific word for it. The phenomenon we’re talking about is a kind of “selective attention”. The classic example of selective attention is called the “cocktail party effect”, whereby you can pick out your named being spoken even in a conversation you’re not consciously paying attention to. ---
**Author:** ![TjCrazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@TjCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TjCrazy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-or-phrase/56895/10 "2001-03-12T23:36:12Z")
yes that’s exactly right. the word, of course, does not actually show up more frequently, you just notice it because it is fresh in your mind. altho, a media industry magazine has great fun running a regular column of all the cliches used in the last month. amazingly (to me at least) papers of all size and locations, seem to get hooked on one particular phrase or cliche for that month.