lexicalize *this*!

[fancybred]

I feel like I'm slowly losing the faculty of speech. Ever more frequently in conversations my train of thought is stopped short because the right word is just out of reach. Not sure exactly what is going on -- it's like English is becoming a foreign language. But I have several ideas about how to address this problem:

• Read a dictionary
  
• Carry a

Comments

[self_referent]

You probably don't converse enough.

Barring crazy possibilities like brain tumors and permanent structural problems in Wernicke's area, you might have lower-than-normal levels of key neurotransmitters.

Neurotransmitter and other nonpermanent problems might be fixable by throwing yourself into complex social situations on a regular basis. The brain is a plastic organ, and it deconstructs unused abilities and strengthens used ones (probably b/c neurons are so energetically expensive--just like grad students ;).

Don't worry

[haydensphere]

Maybe spread out tea leaves, and let other people try to read them?

(Though the dietician wants to know about the frequency and quality of your protein intake over recent weeks! :-)

I lose my ability to speak in English, all the time. Today my German composition consultant was trying to figure out what word I really wanted (I had made up a word in German, bad). She asked what word in English I wanted. I replied, "I don't know!" (Who thinks in English, while trying to write in German

Another idea

[haydensphere]

You could just say "Blank" and let the other person guess the right word. They'll think you're the cleverest thing ;-D

Re: Another idea

[fancybred]

_____.

Re: Another idea

[self_referent]

This seems to be a degenerate instance of Rachel's general idea.