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 A tentative blog to test the temperature. |
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Ten years ago I was writing several blogs on various subjects - F1 motor racing, Music, Classic Cars, Great Romances and, most crushingly, a personal journal that included my thoughts on America, memories of England and Africa, opinion, humour, writing and anything else that occurred. It all became too much (I was attempting to update the journal every day) and I collapsed, exhausted and thoroughly disillusioned in the end. So this blog is indeed a Toe in the Water, a place to document my thoughts in and on WdC but with a determination not to get sucked into the blog whirlpool ever again. Here's hoping.     |
| Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Whatsaname Jayne  is currently running The Daily Poem and her latest prompt concerns Lethologica. Which, as Iām sure we didnāt know, is the temporary inability to retrieve a specific word. Apparently, itās also called ātip-of-the-tongue phenomenon.āThis is something that I have an increasing familiarity with, especially when writing. I can know exactly what I want to write and then, seconds later, when I come to the point of typing the most important word, I find itās gone. It matters not that I knew the word mere moments ago, somehow it has departed my brain and refuses to return. Of course, I can think of plenty of words that mean approximately, or even almost exactly, the same. But that wonāt do - not while I know that the precise word exists and has to be used. Iām picky like that. At that point, I usually resort to Andrea, defining the word to her and waiting while she cycles through the possibilities. Sometimes itās possible to get Google to do the same. So itās not an insurmountable problem. Just time-wasting, thatās all. But itās as nothing compared to Andreaās experience of the phenomenon. Hers is very different from my sudden absence of the word. She finds that some other word has pushed its way in front of the chosen one and now insists on being said before the right one can be said. With her, itās a matter of speech, not writing, and she cannot use the chosen word until she has spoken the imposter. So she might ask someone how their refrigerator is doing, instead of enquiring about their grandsonās health. And the use of the wrong word immediately releases the original choice and it can be said. Which means that she can then explain that she didnāt mean ārefrigeratorā and understanding is restored. It seems that this lethologica is a complex thing and can take many forms. The fact that it happens most often when Iām writing should have made me aware of the fact. But Andreaās experience shows that it can be entirely the other way round as well. Certainly worth further investigation, methinks. Word count: 356 |
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...and the first born grandchild on both sides...
