Fluther: Please help me remember the word or name for this experience.

Please help me remember the word or name for this experience.

Asked by phoenyx (7401

) July 23rd, 2009
18 responses
“Great Question” (3

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I know I’ve read about it before, but I can’t remember what it is called. It’s when you reread or repeat a word aloud over and over and it’s spelling starts to seem odd or it’s sound becomes more foreign the more that you do so.

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Topics: word, mind, strange, foreign

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Answers

There’s a word for that?!?

monsoon (2528

)“Great Answer” (1

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This happens to me. I never knew there was a name for it, though. Now I’m curious so I can read more about it.

Supacase (14563

)“Great Answer” (0

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maybe: wtf?

whatthefluther (13830

)“Great Answer” (3

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isn’t that a form of self-hypnosis? I did that looking at the word BAKING the other day. It just looks wrong, or at least nonsensical.

evelyns_pet_zebra (12923

)“Great Answer” (0

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Do you mean jamais vu?

Jeruba (55847

)“Great Answer” (13

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That phenomenon, while I don’t know it’s name, highlights the limits of our spoken language and the illusory nature of these sounds we make.

The_Compassionate_Heretic (14634

)“Great Answer” (0

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@Jeruba I think that’s it, I knew you would be the one to come through with the answer. A billion lurve points to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

evelyns_pet_zebra (12923

)“Great Answer” (1

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Jeruba knows everything. <3

augustlan (47745

)“Great Answer” (3

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“Jamais vu” I believe is what it’s called. But it can apply to more than just words. I remember I posted a wis.dm question about that. I’ve done it with the weirdest words too. I remember little thinking that I was the only person who could do that, and then I saw it referenced on King of the Hill when Dale Gribble kept repeating the word “wood” over and over and then he was like “wood, that’s a weird word”.

Edit: Jeruba got it before me. :(

DominicX (28808

)“Great Answer” (4

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Word, word, word, word word word word…

Word.. That’s a weird word…

Saturated_Brain (5235

)“Great Answer” (1

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“Town” is another one that gets stranger and stranger with repetition.

PandoraBoxx (18031

)“Great Answer” (0

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It was also referenced in The Venture Bros. – Hank says “scuba” until it becomes a weird word.

wildpotato (15224

)“Great Answer” (0

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For me, it was the work tailgate.

marinelife (62485

)“Great Answer” (0

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@augustlan we all want to be just like @Jeruba when we grow up.

evelyns_pet_zebra (12923

)“Great Answer” (0

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Edit: word. Sigh!

marinelife (62485

)“Great Answer” (1

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Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. Well, that was quick… it already looks weird to me!

augustlan (47745

)“Great Answer” (0

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“Jamais vu”? I’ll stick with “wtf”...“jamais vu” just seems so Latin to me (actually, French, but Romantic, nonetheless)

whatthefluther (13830

)“Great Answer” (0

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It’s often referred to as “the opposite of déjà vu.” It means “never seen,” as opposed to “already seen”—the sensation that the familiar thing you’re seeing is actually something new, never seen before, even though you know it isn’t.

Thanks for your kind remarks, guys. I wish I knew as much as you think I do. I wish I knew what Harp knows, and Darwin, and Marina, and many more. Luckily we’ve got them all here and can borrow their brains whenever we hit a blank spot in our own.

Jeruba (55847

)“Great Answer” (2

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Please help me remember the word or name for this experience.

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