Evening journal., 1902-10-14
WORDS THAT WE
CANNOT GET OUT
On the Tip of the Tongue
Yet We Cannot Utter
Them

! I Everybody Knows WHAT III IS 10 nave
a word on the tip Of the tongue and yet
not be able to speak it, The word is
known perfectly we'll and yet we can
not for the life of us give it utterance.
More often than not it is a common
word In everyday use. But II viii not
be spoken when wanted. What is the
secret of this "word forgetfulncssY
Doctors call it aphasa. They cannot
explain it, but say it is 4 little hitch in
Y the working Of the brain or intellect.
The Chinese, who have done so many
i quaint and clever things, recognized
the difficulty thousands Of years ago
and invented n very ingenious way of
making the best of things.
} They manufactured a number of
words and sentences that meant abso-
lutcly nothing. mere sound without
sense. When Chinaman in the course
Of conversation comes to a word that
he has on the tip Of his tongue, but can
not speak, he just makes use of the
meaningless phrases invented for that
purpose until he recalls the word he
wants and goes on with the cOnversa-
ton.
The trick. for trick it is. is much in
use in public speaking and certainly is
an Improvement on the "er-er--ers,"
coughings and throat cIearings that so
plentfully bcsprlnkle our own after
!; dinner orations. The speaker preserves
his dignity and gives himself time for
thought
Very often the greater the desire to
: speak the missing word the greater the
/ difficulty or sheer imposslbillty. The
man in the Arabian story could not re-
: member the words "Open sesame" al
t though he was In danger of his life.
There are many cases on record of sol
Z dlers. even officers. forgetting the pass
{ word and being shot down by their
7 own sentries. At the critical moment
{ the all important word that they
! thought they knew as well rs their own
names escapes them. They struggle TO
recall It. but the very effort makes it
more difficult, and they pay with their
. lives.
A man may sometimes be tortured
and yet be unable to speak the word he
most desires to utter. Spies have been
captured and have gone TO their death
in silence not because they have not
been eager to betray their comrades.
s, but because under the stress and ex-
element Of the situation they have to-
tally forgotten the information they
would convey. A celebrated case Of this
kind was made the subject of n play
produced in London some years ago,
called ~ Question Of Memory"
No doubt every reader will be able TO
= recall instances in which he has suf-
3 fcrcd from this WORD forgetfulness." ."
4 One can often remember the initial let
e ter Of the word, but not the word itself
1t is still on the tip Of the tongue. even
r after one has given up the struggle to
:; recollect It.
y Actors sometimes forget a word OF
e two in their parts that no effort Of theii
= own can give back to them at the mo
! ment But the wings reached and the
l. strain removed they are again imme
e diaiely word perfect and at loss &c
Z explain their forgetfuness. A whole
If part is sometimes forgotten. This usu
b., ally happens after very long run
e During the run Of "The Second Mrs
Is Tanqueray" Mrs. Patrick Campbell one
4 night found herself on the stage as in
i nocent Of any knowledge Of her part a.
:; any member Of the audience. She made
l. desperate efforts to find herself" bu
It It was no good. That performance sh,
= had to read the part through from be
ginning to end
q Names of people are the words tha
Z slip our memories most frequently. w
le see n face we know. and yet we canno
= ut q name to it. We are shaken by tn
h hand or slapped on the back, and al
r, the while we are hard at work tryln;
,dl 10 ;hlRlS Of the name Of the person wh
-d Is doing it, Kings are credited witt
W royal memories. and it is rare to find
le sovereign who has not a wonderful
s. memory Tor faces. But he usually ha
llee some one at his elbow who can jog hi
OF memory for names
~ IL Is not always safe to fish for
ht name wanted When Ellen Terry an
H. Henry Irving were in America on
~ year they met a gentleman who, the
I'd know had reason 20 expect that the
]
"a they failed to do. So Miss Terry AZ
" preached him and said: "Sir Henry an
y: cannot agree as to the exact spellin
a Of your name. VIII you please put Il
u right?' Certainly" was the reply. 81
- is J-o-n-e.sr'
iy Aphasia IS divided by those who hay
ct studied the subject into "word blin(
he ness" and "word deafness" A ma
I'd who is "word blind" may be able
rs pronounce the name Of letters, but car
not understand the meanings Of th
e. words they form. A man who is ''wor
deaf' can understand ordinary sound
= and music. but cannot understand sp,
ken words Ills speech is often mel
Of senseless jargon.
he But the passing forgetfulness Of
nc word has little to do with these moi
serious forms Of the complaint. W
rs swallow words under the influence {
excitement or more often of fatigu
iTnn,vTa. erofffy,r. haefnf from, n cotsfnYfa n