Bonus Missing Words
Finding them everywhere lately!
I assume there actually is a word for this.
Dictionary of Missing Words is an exercise in paying attention to phenomena you encounter — sensations, concepts, states between states, feelings, slippery things — that could be named, but don’t seem to be. More here and here.
Hi all. A quick note from sunny New Orleans.
Most entries in TAoN’s Dictionary of Missing Words series come from readers — but they occur to me, too. So I’ve been saving up a few, and instead of taking over the series for weeks on end, I’ve gathered them to share with you TAoN supporters. There are seven! Here goes:
Walking on a mildly chilly day under the shade of trees, and then passing through a patch of light: the fleeting warmth of the sun that makes you want to pause needs its own word.
A pair of restaurant diners, one of whom is so loud you can hear him from across the room, the other speaking too softly to be understood — and the latter’s voice seems to get lower and lower, as if trying to set an example for her high-volume companion. But you can only ever hear his half of the conversation, and in fact you can’t not hear it. This phenomenon should be named.
[Credit to E on this one.]
There’s a post-it on my laptop that displays a four-digit number in fading ink. I have no idea what it refers to. Some temporary PIN, I assume? I’m afraid to throw it away, because maybe it will turn out to have been important. This fear is so ridiculous and specific that it could use its own term.
On a busy sidewalk, especially in New York, if there’s someone loud bearing down on me from behind (or even if their shoe heels are too loud), I will “pull over,” pretending to look in a shop window or adjust my footwear, and let them pass. The first time I did this while walking with E, early in our relationship, she understood exactly what I was doing, because she regularly did the same thing. We each knew this action, though we could not name it.
[Credit to E on this one, too, obviously.]
On occasion I’ll find myself having an exchange with someone — an Uber driver, most recently — whose accent I simply cannot understand. He’ll ask a question, I’ll say “Sorry, what was that?,” and we’ll repeat this maybe twice before I cannot bear to make him repeat himself again and I simply guess a plausible answer based entirely on his intonation: “Right,” “That’s good yes,” “Either way is fine,” etc. This particular form of answering a question you don’t understand deserves a name.
Sometimes, some little trap I’ve set for myself — an alert I set not to forget X, a note that I’ve left telling my future (now present) self not to do Z (which I was just about to do) — actually works. I feel simultaneously grateful to my past foresight, proud of my anticipatory self-knowledge, yet disappointed that my current self needed this help, and concerned that someday I’ll be the guy in Memento. I wish I had a term for this feeling.
Walking the dog around the block, I belatedly notice that the sky, in one direction, is darkening. We walk a little faster, the wind picks up a bit … and I start to feel tiny droplets in the air; they are not falling on me, I am moving through them. I don’t know what to call these droplets — or my uncertainty about whether they mean it will rain, and if so how hard, and how soon.
What else should we add to The Dictionary of Missing Words? Leave your suggestion — or respond to these — in the comments.
HAVE A GREAT WEEK!
As always, I value your feedback (suggestions, critiques, positive reinforcement, constructive insults, etc.), as well as your tips or stories or personal noticing rituals, things we need a word for, and of course your icebreakers: consumed@robwalker.net. Or use the comments.
And thanks for reading …
rw
RobWalker.net | NB: I use (some) Amazon Affiliate links
All this by Rob Walker PO Box 171, 748 Mehle St., Arabi LA 70032
—> If you enjoy this newsletter, please help spread the word! Or just click the heart button, that’s always very appreciated!
If someone forwarded you this supporter-only edition, and you enjoyed it, consider signing on yourself.
I say, don’t be afraid to throw old post it notes away. That goes equally for donating clothes you never wear to Goodwill, gifting used books to the library. For some reason your mind says you “might need” these items some day, but you never do. Getting rid of stuff is freeing and exciting. I boldly discarded (this something which was important at one time but no longer).
Yep very good ones! What about: Noticing yourself notice a feeling that you should share with your readers? And also noticing yourself notice a feeling that doesn’t quite make the grade?