Ostention, which I occasionally use in its folkloric sense, is one that I can hardly ever bring to mind at the critical moment.
I was going to answer this but I can’t remember.
When to use “i.e.” versus “e.g.”. I have to think through the full Latin phrases every time.
I do, too, but that’s remembering, not forgetting.
my mnemonics are:
e.g. = egxample, i.e. = in eother wordsMy mnemonic is “for eggsample.”
I use “in essence” for i.e.
I think writers and readers both stumble over them. I avoid both altogether these days.
That’s fair. Had an opportunity to use “e.g.” today but just said “for example” instead.
I had another interesting one. Reviewing a document someone else wrote that said an old thing was “grandfathered” in and the document didn’t apply to it. A Chinese-american coworker (who has been speaking English for decades) didn’t know that one, “grandfathered”. Another unnecessary term when “previously approved” or “previously authorized” would be so much clearer.
This is all reminding me of a Wikipedia article I stumbled on ages ago about people who want English kept “pure” to Germanic and early modern English roots. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_purism_in_English. E.g. (lol), saying birdlore instead of ornithology, and bendsome instead of flexible.
this implies one. all sorts of words the moment I need them.
I have ADHD, so pretty much every word when I need it most.
deflagration
I had to look it up for this post. My brain’s inability to recall the word for detonation velocities lower than the speed of sound wasn’t an issue until rotating detonation engines started to make news and I’ve needed to explain the difference between explosions and deflagrations to people.
I forgot. 🤷🏻♂️
Ladle. Big soup scoopy thing. Never remember this word. Terribly specific.
oh, um… shit, it’s right on the tip of my tongue…
Everyone’s names.
me too, uh… ulysses bankster five.
Funny you should ask. And that’s the thing, I can’t remember.
The phrase “Baader-Meinhof effect”
I love pointing out examples of it but always forget the name, leading to an awkward moment when I try to explain it
For the people who hadn’t heard of it (like me): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion
