# Unique phrases for common incidents. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 13, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341 "2011-06-13T18:58:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fly\_Sparge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a698b9/32.png) [@Fly\_Sparge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fly_Sparge)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/1 "2011-06-13T18:58:54Z")
I often find it amusing that people everday, around the world, experience similar events in their day-to-day lives and that these experiences seldom have a name. Or, if it does have a name, it is so rarely known that people who use said term is either an immediate comedian or outcast. So, for today, I share with you all the phenomenon known as “toilet foot”. You know…you’ve sat on the toilet a little longer than you should and your foot falls asleep. Then you have to walk back to your office/cubicle in an even funnier fashion than when you were headed to the restroom! Do you have any unusual/unique names for common occurrences? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/2 "2011-06-13T19:06:18Z")
This brings to mind one of Cecil’s old columns. [Is there a word for the jig you do trying to get around someone on the sidewalk.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/493/is-there-a-word-for-the-jig-you-do-trying-to-get-around-someone-on-the-sidewalk) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/3 "2011-06-13T19:24:58Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > This brings to mind one of Cecil’s old columns. > [Is there a word for the jig you do trying to get around someone on the sidewalk.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/493/is-there-a-word-for-the-jig-you-do-trying-to-get-around-someone-on-the-sidewalk) As I was reading the OP I was thinking about that very thing. I forgot that Cecil had a column about it though. I’m sure there’s a name for it, but what do you call that spring-loaded thing on a toilet paper holder? TP bobbin, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/4 "2011-06-13T20:06:46Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > This brings to mind one of Cecil’s old columns. > [Is there a word for the jig you do trying to get around someone on the sidewalk.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/493/is-there-a-word-for-the-jig-you-do-trying-to-get-around-someone-on-the-sidewalk) Ha. I love that someone tried to define it, but I don’t like that he assigned it the name “shuggleftulation.” Who’s going to say that? I’ve often referred to it as the “sidewalk shuffle,” also referred to as the “little sidewalk shuffle” and the “Who’s on first sidewalk shuffle.” Now that I’m consciously writing these down, the names seem a bit silly too, but people seem to know what I’m talking about right away. I suspect if I ever said shuggleftulation I’d be met with blank stares. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/5 "2011-06-13T20:20:52Z")
What about when you’re eating pizza or baked ziti or something similarly cheesy and you get that embarrassing string of cheese (sometimes multiple strings) hanging from your mouth, sometimes stretching all the way to the slice or plate? “Cheese string”? “Pasta stretch”? “Cheese dribble”? “Cheesy chin”? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/6 "2011-06-13T20:48:09Z")
Cheese tether? ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/7 "2011-06-13T20:49:43Z")
“Habanero Ass” No explanation necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/8 "2011-06-13T20:50:33Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > As I was reading the OP I was thinking about that very thing. I forgot that Cecil had a column about it though. > > I’m sure there’s a name for it, but what do you call that spring-loaded thing on a toilet paper holder? TP bobbin, I guess. Spindle. I know because I had to find one for my mom at Lowe’s. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/9 "2011-06-13T23:39:59Z")
The late douglas Adams made a valiant attempt to fill in some of these lexical gaps in [The Meaning of Liff](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Meaning_of_Liff). An example: Shoeburyness - “The vague uncomfortable feeling you get when sitting on a seat which is still warm from somebody else’s bottom.” ---
**Author:** ![Fly\_Sparge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a698b9/32.png) [@Fly\_Sparge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fly_Sparge)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/10 "2011-06-14T00:53:16Z")
My daughter taught me the term “sock wedgie” a year or so ago. It is when your sock creeps down into your shoe and the excess sock becomes wadded up in the toe room. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/11 "2011-06-14T01:39:42Z")
I grew up using ‘fuckability’ as way to describe… well, you get it. It doesn’t rate beauty per se. Why am I explaining this? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/12 "2011-06-14T01:47:19Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Ha. I love that someone tried to define it, but I don’t like that he assigned it the name “shuggleftulation.” Who’s going to say that? I’ve often referred to it as the “sidewalk shuffle,” also referred to as the “little sidewalk shuffle” and the “Who’s on first sidewalk shuffle.” Now that I’m consciously writing these down, the names seem a bit silly too, but people seem to know what I’m talking about right away. I suspect if I ever said shuggleftulation I’d be met with blank stares. In addition, shuggleftulation may sometimes actually be shugg_right_ulation. I kinda like _awkstep_. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/13 "2011-06-14T01:50:57Z")
Weren’t there a half-dozen books of _Sniglets_ back in the 90s? English already has more specialized vocabulary than any other language, but you want more? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/14 "2011-06-14T01:52:41Z")
What, am I the only person who has ever heard of Sniglets? Table snorkling? Scribline? Voitlock? Glibido? Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/15 "2011-06-14T01:53:59Z")
Ah. Well, there ya go. Plus I should have looked at Cecil’s link earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/16 "2011-06-14T02:48:18Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > In addition, shuggleftulation may sometimes actually be shugg_right_ulation. > > I kinda like _awkstep_. I automatically hear “awkstep” in my mind whenever it happens. I’d even forgotten where it came from. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/17 "2011-06-14T18:20:31Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > What, am I the only person who has ever heard of Sniglets? Of course not. Fenderberg and threek were my favorites. Hatterfall – When you’re wearing a brimmed hat in the rain and you tilt your head and water pours out. ---
**Author:** ![Cryptic\_C62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cryptic\_C62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cryptic_C62)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/18 "2011-06-14T18:29:08Z")
“Sarchasm”: The gap in understanding when one person uses sarcasm and the other person doesn’t get it. “Toilet sauce”: Soggy toilet paper left on the seat ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/19 "2011-06-14T18:43:10Z")
We need a word for when you’re walking down a crowded sidewalk and suddenly realize you’re headed in the wrong direction, but instead of doing a 180, you move over to the side of a building and start fidgeting around with your cell phone or otherwise pretending you need to pull over and handle something, allow for enough people to pass so that no one sees you head the opposite way, then turn around. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341/20 "2011-06-14T18:46:32Z")
Stealth course correction? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-phrases-for-common-incidents/585341.md?page=2)