What word would describe...

[shijinn]

Originally posted by mecaenas
For a hypothetical example: I might find that a screwdriver is an exception for cleaning my fingernails despite the fact that it was designed and manufacturer to undo screws.

underutilise , misapplication :rolleyes:

[GKW]

Jury-rig

[rsa]

Repurposing

Off label

Minor use

[Trigonal_Planar]

Interesing. Thesaurus.com didn’t have any listings for bricolage.

[slipster]

It is not a single word, but psychologists speak of “an absence of functional fixity” for the ability to find nonstandard uses for objects.

[stypticus]

Somehow, I don’t think “I have a marked absence of functional fixity” will look so good on my resume.

I am very interested in this word.

[mecaenas]

Thanks folks, they’re great words, but not the one I’m looking for.

*Originally posted by Trigonal Planar *
**Interesing. Thesaurus.com didn’t have any listings for bricolage. **

Yeah, I know, I was hoping that it did because the word I want falls into the same sort of area, in the sense that it describes a similar phenomenon, but not quite the same.

*Originally posted by slipster *
It is not a single word, but psychologists speak of “an absence of functional fixity” for the ability to find nonstandard uses for objects.

Maybe you’re right, I’ve found lots and lots of combinations of words that describe it, but no single words that do.

I think it was originally my boss who told me about this word, I’ll ask him on Monday morning

[peepthis]

I agree with repurposing.