How Words Get Stuck on the Tip of Your Tongue

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You know that feeling, when you know a word but it’s just out of reach, stuck on the tip of your tongue? Well, why does it happen? And what can you do about it?
Hosted by: Hank Green
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Sources:
www.cs.toronto.edu/~fritz/absp...
ruccs.rutgers.edu/ftp/pub/pape...
www.mml.cam.ac.uk/dtal/courses...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/...
memorylab.stanford.edu/Publica...
s-f-walker.org.uk/pubsebooks/p...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26...
psychology.illinoisstate.edu/j...

Опубликовано:

21 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 685

@striker3013 8 лет назад

Just got home from school, the learning just starts.

@farhang-n 2 месяца назад

hey, wake up

@LetsTakeWalk 8 лет назад

This episode is 4:04 long, words not found.

@nyagineko5064 8 лет назад

Damit not the 404 error!

@makaylawilliams1353 8 лет назад

ReggiGamez stop

@Leathurkatt 7 лет назад

LOL That's just so creepy and wrong, yet so apropos. XD

@ginnyjollykidd 5 лет назад

Haha!

@earthtominiryu 4 года назад

XD i wonder if that was intended?

@Garbaz 8 лет назад

A similar problem I have way too often, is that I remember the English word for something, but just can't quite grasp the German equivalent. I am from Germany ...

@phlimy 8 лет назад

+Garbaz That happens to me too! ^^ I'm from France and I can't get the french word sometimes! x)

@ConductiveFoam 8 лет назад

+Garbaz Are you me? I have that problem ALL the time up to the point where everyone's making fun of me for it. :D

@phlimy 8 лет назад

Haha, who knows :D Well I don't have it that often but it does sometimes and it's a bit awkward as people think that would'd instead forget the english word ^.^ We should all speak english, then, problem solved!

@lohphat 8 лет назад

+Garbaz This happened a long time ago to a friend of German friend of mine. He was speaking to his mother in German and was trying to tell her "the flight was cancelled" -- he kept saying "gekanzelt" instead of "abgasagt".

@leonardoalvarenga7572 8 лет назад

+Garbaz Happens to me, too, my solution is to slap the English word in there anyways and just look like a cultured intellectual (or a douche).

@alyssagendron4209 8 лет назад

SHE WANTS TO DANCE LIKE ERNA THULMAN

@erikasteele7717 8 лет назад

BURY ME TILL I CONNECT

@alyssagendron4209 8 лет назад

+Silver WolfHeart SHE WANTS TO DANCE LIKE ERNA THULMAN AND I KNOW THAT WORD'S SOMEWHERE IN MY HEAD

@muhaiminzulkarnain5628 8 лет назад

+Punky Ukester The mud, the mud, the mud of the fam

@5nikoline5 8 лет назад

+Punky Ukester Your icon is goals

@alyssagendron4209 8 лет назад

NatashaGiggles So is yours fren

@thesideprojectj 8 лет назад

I was gonna say something, but i forgot it...

@neilsonjefferson 8 лет назад

I think you have dementia

@Njumkiy 8 лет назад

Who are you?

@JosephM 8 лет назад

+neilsonjefferson k

@evanchadbourne2206 8 лет назад

Why am I here again?

@RacinZilla003 8 лет назад

I'm sorry if I stop talking, I have A--...

@cj-seejay-cj-seejay 8 лет назад

OK BUT... I have noticed that these tip-of-the-tongue things are sometimes contagious! Is that a thing anyone else has experienced? Like, if there's a word on the tip of my tongue, and I ask a friend for help, sometimes my FRIEND finds that the word is on the tip of HER tongue, too! So now we're both sitting around trying to puzzle it out together... Anyone else get this?

@lb9dunk 8 лет назад

@cj-seejay-cj-seejay 8 лет назад

lb9dunk well alright then

@evilcam 8 лет назад

+slut4berniesanders Yes. Way more often than when I experience the phenomena by myself. For whatever reason, it seems that being social has some cascading effect on my neuro-plasticity and I get tongue tied much more often and much more frequently when I am talking to people, as opposed to just thinking or typing. And as you point out, when I experience it and mention that I am experiencing it it seems to happen to whomever I am talking to more often as well.

@thomascameron2612 8 лет назад

+evilcam Well thinking or typing don't have to activate the sound neurons I am pretty sure. At least I think that is what Hank was getting at. So the only logical reason you would get tongue tied is if you are being social. :)

@evilcam 8 лет назад

Well, I would think that is a rational explanation if I only got tongue tied while being social. That It happens when I am not talking to anyone makes me think there is more to it...but truth be told I have no idea how it works. So I think even while thinking alone and by yourself suggests that we sometimes use that cascading connection model, thus apparently trying to coax out a phonetic sound, even when not being social. That it happens much more often when I am talking to people certainly suggests that you are on to something though.

@AiriRoses 7 лет назад

It's the best feeling in the world when you're stuck on a word and then it comes to you without help :}

@Rainefaelyn 8 лет назад

Me: 'So then they played that song...dammit.. You know it? Friend: Nope Me: Has that electronica sound...Kinda 80's Friend: {stares blankly} Me: You know it. It goes something like dun de dundun dun de dundun. Friend: {snickers}... Roxette? Me: No! Dammit it's gone now. *Three Days Later* {brain-click/successful Googling} = call friend Me: Yazoo. It was Yazoo - Only You Friend: What was? Me: The song Friend: What song? Me: The song I was trying to remember the other day. Friend: Ooooh OK. Yeah, I would never have guessed that. The story of my life.

@gr5211 8 лет назад

Once a friend and I were both struggling to remember the word "anspruchsvoll" (we're both Germans) for an entire day, it wasn't until late night that one of us finally got it. Amazing how relieved and enthusiastic two people can be over one single word - we still occasionally talk about that day. Needless to say that's a word we'll probably never forget again.

@ken123432 7 лет назад

I find this subject interesting. I started long ago with my kids to simply ask the person that is in this state "WHAT DOES IT DO?" . That most times results in them knowing the word they're looking for. I know it makes their brain think about the same thing differently and clears the brain to say the word. At the very least they can then describe it instead , and that teaches it so later it's more used and easy access. Love your shows.

@lt80355 8 лет назад

Oh my gosh.. the captioning at 3:21... someone should probably fix that.

@SciShow 8 лет назад

+Lenda Thompson Ha! Good catch!

@BosnianWarrior15 8 лет назад

+Lenda Thompson what did it say?

@ryanresa 8 лет назад

+Lenda Thompson Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow....and funny!

@lt80355 8 лет назад

SciShow I rewatched it about 10 times and was laughing for a solid 15 minutes.

@moxy82 8 лет назад

+Lenda Thompson Great, so I read your comment when I was about 20 seconds in and from there on out paid more attention to the captions and the play time than what he was talking about >

@initialsCKN 8 лет назад

Teacher: "what is the name of the chemical formula HCl?" Student:"..." Teacher: "..." Student: "..." Teacher: "Well!?" Student: "It's... It's on the tip of my tongue" Teacher: "WELL SPIT IT OUT, IT'S HYDROCHLORIC ACID!"

@connorshea9085 8 лет назад

+initialsCKN you need to wash your tongue at the nearest wash station. I don't what concentration the acid is at, but don't take any chances.

@initialsCKN 8 лет назад

+Piper Johnson it's a joke. As in the student made the teacher say the answer

@initialsCKN 8 лет назад

+Connor Shea it's a joke. The student got the teacher to say the answer

@alduindovah656 8 лет назад

+initialsCKN Hipoclorito!!!!

@MaliaEngle 8 лет назад

😂😂😂 my science teacher would laugh so hard

@VictoriaFaye09 8 лет назад

Can we do a video on (or can someone explain) why the skin of your lips is so significantly different than other skin? Like evolutionarily, why color, moisturization, etc. are different than normal skin. Part of me is too lazy too look it up, but I also thought it could be a cool topic and didn't want to ruin it for myself lol

@theuninspiredpoet 8 лет назад

There is an English word for this phenomenon: lethologica. And the obsession with trying to recall the forgotten word is known as loganamnosis.

@lobaetoile8440 7 лет назад

theuninspiredpoet: I constantly suffer of both of those phenomenons... Based in my experience, I think lethologica happens more when you're under stress or when you're speaking too fast or when you get distracted easily. Loganamnosis happens when you get angry at yourself when you can't remember a word that you know, specifically every time you need to use it, like in a exam.

@demJem09 8 лет назад

I absolutely love this. My friend and I couldn't think of the word 'competent' and I think we came up with every other word that starts with 'com' before we got it. Now I know what the heck my brain is doing!

@cortster12 8 лет назад

Lately I've been forgetting words so much. I'm only 19, but I forgot simple words multiple times a day at worst. And it's only getting worse. I have even forgot the word 'door' a fews times, and other such simple words. Is that normal, or is something wrong?

@fireops 8 лет назад

+cortster12 You probably just be stressed out because of something.

@tron-8140 8 лет назад

+cortster12 Stop smoking weed.

@redsox999233 8 лет назад

+cortster12 less drugs more hugs

@cortster12 8 лет назад

redsox999233 I don't take any drugs at all. The most I've ever taken was a simple pain reliever when I have a headache.

@miah2895 8 лет назад

+cortster12 im the same way lol never took drugs and words just get stuck even simple words but im a very nervous person so when i talk words get stuck and its so embarrassing lol my words are so rusty. 😂

@tira2993 6 лет назад

I'm totally crushing on Hank now after the phrase. "Knowy good stuff." Lol, gold, pure gold Hank.

@TheSnowmanMc90 8 лет назад

I thoroughly enjoy this channel

@iartistdotme 8 лет назад

So glad to understand this finally. Inquiring minds NEED to know so I won't let anyone help me figure it out, thereby helping myself.

@brokenandcraked 8 лет назад

I've been watching this channel for quite a while now and frankly I just want to say, I love you guys... I like to think I've become a smarter person, and I have a new found interest in science... it also helps that my family has started calling me the fountain of useless information... mainly because I'll quote this show a lot...

@elloDucky 8 лет назад

Hank! You're flipping awesome dude, you adorable man you

@B.D.E. 8 лет назад

This is actually a huge part of language teaching. Generating ´TOT states´ at every opportunity and guiding students towards ´resolution´.

@MrPatrickHenryCheryl 8 лет назад

"In English we don't have a term for it." "...tip-of-the-tongue..." Well, evidently we do.

@teddyl7006 8 лет назад

Thanks. I've been doing this all my life more than most people. I always find the words only a few minutes after I needed them.

@astrofishisist6447 8 лет назад

Leonardo decaprio and Leonardo davinci have close paths

@Emma-ri9xl 8 лет назад

I have no audio so I'm watching with subtitles. Its surprisingly hard, to read at the speed Hank Green talks! XDD

@Greyxoxo 8 лет назад

This info is really useful as I have been doing exactly that with my Dad who has had a few small strokes. It's good to know I'm doing the right thing to help him rebuild his neural pathways again. TY :)

@oneiro7022 8 лет назад

I remember on a podcast I was listening to once, one of the people on it had one of these moments with the word "amnesia." I can't tell if that's irony or a coincidence. Lol

@wolfieCLANwop 8 лет назад

I get this a lot for old television shows, a few months back I recalled a memories of a childrens show I saw as a child but could not remember its name at all, but I could describe the show pretty well, I found reddit to be very helpful in answering my question, all I remembered was the show had puppets, royalty and the puppets had square eyes, turns out the show was Cloppa Castle.

@KatzePiano 8 лет назад

Weird... This just popped up on my facebook feed and I decided I'd watch it, and what do you talk about? The very thing I had a tutorial on earlier today and was very confused about! (It's connectionism, btw.) Thank you, Hank, for helping me out with a topic I was struggling with and didn't even know this video would cover!

@UthoRiley 8 лет назад

I can't help but be impressed about either your greenscreen, chroma key software, animator, or heck... Even all of the above. The greenscreen is reflecting in the black plastic of his glasses, when you key out the background that tends to leave some nasty scarring of the final image in that area and hard transition lines. But this just adapts to the background image perfectly with gradient transition. Cool... :O

@Flemmi 8 лет назад

I kind of knew the day to day implications of this but seeing the science behind it is very interessting.

@smexyapman 8 лет назад

you guys are awesome

@livebearded5943 7 лет назад

one of the best ive watched

@fgnoyola 8 лет назад

Excellent video (Y)

@gomez1323 8 лет назад

Thanks for uploading this, I've been wondering why this happens for a few weeks.

@purplefire2834 3 года назад

"knowy good stuff" - Hank 2015

@alexrose8186 8 лет назад

I ❤️ this channel

@tomservo5007 6 лет назад

interesting that we intuitively help those stuck by giving partial sounds of the word.... turns out that the most beneficial to the person stuck....

@gg3675 6 лет назад

There is an astonishing amount of research about this

@ljmastertroll 8 лет назад

Was Erma Thulman in Kale Bale?

@95waga 8 лет назад

After i began studying neuroscience/cognitive science 2 months ago these videos makes so much more sense :D

@freethedefiant4267 8 лет назад

I love how he quoted himself and everything

@dm_nimbus 8 лет назад

Love that knowy good stuff

@Divercitylife 8 лет назад

loved this video! I am trying to learn another language so this type of information is great!

@LyricalFluffer 8 лет назад

I like the way you ended this one. Nice

@WhereWhoMe 8 лет назад

An interesting video about something that I've been meaning to look up when I have trouble saying things when talking to people. I"m not sure if it is just me, but every now and then I get to points where it is very hard to describe or say what I want. :? Though that tends to go away after a while, especially if I make a point to talk more (either to people, or mumble more to myself).

@b.sylphaen 8 лет назад

I just caught an Abra (pokemon) while you were talking, so I named him after you, Hank. Both are smart and blond, I think it fits. I'll evolve him, I promise.

@RodaidhMackay 8 лет назад

Just had this happened.. Pretty sure it's contagious too. Everyone seems to know what I mean but can't find the word either!

@SicknessDDOEU 8 лет назад

I've had multiple of these per day throughout my twenties.

@undertasty 7 лет назад

I once forgot the word "charger" when I needed to charge my phone. So I called it "electric tail". The name stuck and now the whole family calls it that.

@RealRed01 8 лет назад

Wtf youtube captions.... lol vvvvvvv You the real MVP!

@aldenheterodyne2833 3 года назад

My dad and I are autistic, and we frequently have trouble finding our words. The polite thing to do for us is to supply a possible word when they're struggling. This both helps along the conversation and shows that you were listening. My mom on the other hand does not like this social rule. She sees it as I interrupting and putting words in her mouth.

@RealLiveKakashi 8 лет назад

Well, thanks, Hank! I will always think of Vin Diesel when Van Gogh is mentioned now.

@Catsandpixels 8 лет назад

Ive had multiple concussions and this happens more than I'd like, concussion induced minor aphasia. But I am glad to understand it better now

@Duke00x 8 лет назад

I try and go around the problem you get from someone telling you the word by spending time after (normally a few minutes) repeating the word over and over again (mostly in my head, but a little bit out load also).

@Imagine-Baggins 8 лет назад

0:54 Thanks for the shout-out to Afrikaans! We never get much recognition on teh interwebs :(

@joshuavanzyl6536 6 лет назад

ImagineBaggins awe my bra hoe lyk dit, groets vanaf di vrystaat😃

@tmdrake 6 лет назад

I need the "ah ha" moment.

@masonjohnson4310 5 лет назад

It makes me think of when computers have incorrect data paths within a directory and you can't find what you are looking for because what you need is somewhere else.

@lillyweaver7726 6 лет назад

I always forget the word sentimental for some reason. I can only remember it by singing through 'Wicked' in my head (the wizard sings, "I am a sentimental man")

@Kirhean 8 лет назад

I wonder if there's a form of memetic contagion when dealing with this. Frequently, when I recruit help trying to remember a word, the other person will also fall afoul of the effect. It's almost as if I'm spreading it when I try to get help.

@hurley9772 7 лет назад

you eventually do remember the word you were looking for, a week later, at 3 am, when you're trying to sleep and the moment is long past, but now you're so happy it came to you that you can't sleep anymore the rest of the night

@Andytlp 8 лет назад

Yeah its fun to remember names/words. When the brain makes the connection... feeling like no other.

@BriWhoSaysNi 8 лет назад

This literally happened to me this morning during a midterm. Luckily I remembered it in time.

@christinagoodrow1992 8 лет назад

Vsause explained this extremely well too. 😊😊😊

@kristianemilkjrgaard531 8 лет назад

Hi guys, i love new videos

@Hylogem 8 лет назад

I spit out a little of my water when that "TOTS" abbreviation came up.

@Hylogem 8 лет назад

+ThisisNOTCONNECTED TOMYRU-vid Because of Napoleon Dynamite

@hyperactivehyperbole 2 года назад

I notice it the most when walking through a doorway

@EugeneKhutoryansky 8 лет назад

Nice video.

@quackistan 8 лет назад

OH MY GOD CAN YOU CALM DOWN DON'T USE THAT LANGUAGE THERE'S CHILDREN HERE WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING JUST CALM DOWN IT'S JUST A VIDEO JEEZ

@HighLighterlines 8 лет назад

Just do it. Everything is posible. Do It!

@Lyle-xc9pg 5 лет назад

HI EUGENE!!!!

@Ramen45_ 8 лет назад

I had this on a geography test on the geological features of Australia. One of things I didn't know was the Gulf of Carpentaria, the body of water in northern Australia, where Darwin is, etc. I put down the Gulf of Australia knowing that wasn't the answer. I knew it started with a C. Later that day I remembered it in the shower.

@stevenma5188 8 лет назад

Pretty sure I saw this on Dnews or AsapScience. Keep up with the information relay!

@juanhectorgarcia6 8 лет назад

I'm pondering about why we shake I know some species like purr to promote or help healing..and also cause there in a pleasure sort of state. we also do it when we're too anxious,scared,cold, and other stuff ..also in spiritual way vibration is use as a path to a higher self .... well I'm really curious about your answer but ether way thank you if you spend your time reading this. thank you

@sarah53062 8 лет назад

Sometimes when I am listening to a song and I know the lyrics I start singing but I don't remember the name of the song. I know all the lyrics but I don't know what I'm singing, until the name of the song appears in the middle of the song then I realize ohhh thats the song, I love this one lol

@williamgrace9319 8 лет назад

I don't recall ever having experienced this in such a way that I say the wrong word. I only ever just forget a word completely for a period of time, I don't arrive at wrong versions.

@celtgunn9775 6 лет назад

Blast & Damn! Mom always had me spelling words for her. She was awful about it. 🤣

@bryanmejia5201 8 лет назад

I have a QQ, why is glass transparent, or see through

@maxzhao2545 8 лет назад

I had this on a test! Robert Castell could not come into my mind.

@PublicRecordsGeek 8 лет назад

Penti Kanerva, if memory serves, came up with a model of memory which explains TOTS, called Sparse Distributed Memory. I always wondered what would happen if someone applied his model to a store of prime factors, for running attacks against PGP encrypted streams. Maybe someone already has...

@randykintzley5923 8 лет назад

why are tots contagious?!

@Nosirrbro 8 лет назад

This is interesting!

@PineSG 8 лет назад

Oh gah.. its happens so much now... I hate to think what it will be like in like 10 years!

@randomnumbers710 8 лет назад

This is cool.

@haZedxClanz 8 лет назад

I always have this problem during school.

@13vatra 7 лет назад

I used to not get this at all. Maybe once every few months. Then I got my brains bashed in. I went through a phase where the connects were broken for like a quarter of the words, ideas, and concepts I had in a day. It was like swimming through molasses, no amount of thinking or even hints would get me to the answer, but once I managed to provide enough information for someone else to say it the fog would clear and I knew what I was saying again. When I got to one of those brick walls I'd also get stuck per se, I couldn't think of anything else until the path was connected. Now I'm mostly good. I still occasionally hit brick walls where the connections aren't firing properly, but now I can usually figure out a back road to the information I want.

@SauceChef 8 лет назад

Every time I need to use the word compensate, complement will keep popping up to my mind. Everytime! It just so happened earlier today.

@annietrinity1833 7 лет назад

I was thinking about how I consistently have an easier time remembering a word after having it in a TOTS, and wondering why it seems my experience is so consistently inconsistent with scientific findings. Then I remembered all my examples were actually when someone tried to help me and failed. Nobody has ever actually helped me of a TOTS.

@nettlesoup 8 лет назад

Hank, you're "almost" right with your pronunciation of "presque"! x

@GeekedOutNeckbeard 7 лет назад

Hank Green you are the only reason I love science.

@jelleverest 8 лет назад

This feeling. Goddammit, it's the worst. I get it all the time, multiple times a day, and with words as mundane as washing machine or glove.

@TheFreakinpenguins 8 лет назад

This explains why I get annoyed when someone finishes a word for me if I get stuck stuttering on it.

@joeychen5134 6 лет назад

I wonder if the high levels of sematic meaning not only connect to lower cognitive levels such as sounds but to other high levels of cognitive function. If the process of figuring things out youself instead of people telling you what it is can actually reinforce that neurological pathway pathway then this can have a huge impact on education methods. I.e. individual meaning of words connect with each other in a sentence to form an overall message, and being able to read that sentence as each word had its own neurological pathway to the sounds.tjisbcould be applied greatly in biology because you have to know a lot of terminology to be able to understand a concept. And the more "proportion" of that concept which you understand (at the high levels versus just sounds and words), the easier it will become for you to remember it compared to just learning the sounds and words which you don't understand. On the other hand this could be applied to mathematics where being able to come to your own conclusion on a mathematical problem using basic mathematics skills you've learned might stick easier in your brain than having a math teacher solve it for you.

@blazebluebass 8 лет назад

Here is a tool tip that works for me most of the time: if you want to remember a word, go audibly through the alphabet. When you reach the correct letter it triggers the memory. It just does not work with words which start with sounds that do not have a corresponded in the alphabet, like "sheet" won't be triggered by an "s", but "street" would.

@felixweapon 8 лет назад

I've found that thinking of other letters than what the word actually starts with helps. Like if you're trying to think of a word that starts with S you avoid all words that start with S.

@sleepycastle9382 7 лет назад

the title made my stuck on my tongue

@SuicideBunny6 6 лет назад

It's like feeling a sneeze come up, but it then suddenly goes away and you're left with an unsatisfied feeling ("presque éternué"?)

@sk8rdman 8 лет назад

I'm especially bad about this when it comes to names, but that's probably only because it's rare for me to use a person's name while I'm talking to them. It becomes harder to make that connection without frequent use.

@mspooner 8 лет назад

The reason it took six determined months to learn the proper terms for all the similar machines at work: All I have to do is say "the thing" and everybody knows what I'm talking about (??). But saying "this thing" "that thing" is very ineffective communication. Sometimes it's better to just slow down.

@MrPicklepod 8 лет назад

I always have a hard time remembering humus. I had a hard time remembering it just now.

@cobalius 4 года назад

It feels like i know the exact direction and place of the information, but it's not yet decryptable.

@MrStringybark 3 года назад

What works for me most of the time is to close my eyes and run through the alphabet, visualizing all of the letters of the alphabet, one after the other. If that doesn't work by giving the answer the first couple of times. I usually end up with a few letters that strike a chord in my memory. These letters are then displayed in my mind's eye and I then attach letters that are used commonly next to these letters hoping to ring a bell and make a complete word from that. If that doesn't work for that letter I repeat the process with the other letters that came to mind and keep doing that until I get an answer. The words I have the most problem bringing to mind are those that begin with a vowel.