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Searching for the right word

Posted by ESC on February 19, 2004

In Reply to: Searching for the right word posted by Smokey Stover on February 19, 2004

: : Is the word you are looking for...anomia (loss of the ability to identify or to recall and recognize names of persons, places, or things). Laurie

: Laurie is quite right about anomia, a form of aphasia. But it's most often used to describe a pathological condition. The quandary of one trying to find the right word is very common in people with no mental pathology. I have a tendency to forget nouns, or the names of things, but it's quite separate from the trouble I may have trying to think of le mot juste. SS

Most people having trouble recalling a word say, "It's right on the tip of my tongue."

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