Verboticism: Helterseeker

'What was I looking for?'

DEFINITION: n. A condition where you get so distracted by the fact that you can't find something, that you forget what you were looking for. v. To forget what you are looking for while you are looking for it.

Create | Read

Voted For: Helterseeker

Successfully added your vote for "Helterseeker".

You still have one vote left...

Stumblesearch

Created by: Maureen

Pronunciation: stum-ble-ser-ch

Sentence: John's gone for another one of his stumblesearches and he'll soon be asking us what it was he was looking for.

Etymology: stumble- from stumbling block when one draws a blank. search - to look for something.

| Comments and Points

Invertintention

Created by: ailehpo

Pronunciation:

Sentence:

Etymology:

| Comments and Points

Absentfindedness

Created by: splendiction

Pronunciation: AB sent find ed NESS

Sentence: Able tore around the apartment, digging through gobs of stuff to find many things he forgot he had. Unfortunately, his absentfindedness prevented him from actually remembering what he was looking for. Perhaps Able found it after all that finding!

Etymology: I forgot... (Uh, a twist together of absentmindedness and find).

----------------------------
COMMENTS:

Good word...amazing how many people are afflicted with this disease...not me, at least I don't remember having it! - Nosila, 2009-10-01: 20:19:00

----------------------------

| Comments and Points

Forgetmeenotagain

Created by: Jabberwocky

Pronunciation: for/get/mee/not/a/gen

Sentence: After my fifth trip to the kitchen and experiencing a forgemeenotagain I decided to start writing all my tasks down as soon as I thought of them - then I forgot.

Etymology: forget me not + again

| Comments and Points

Disfindtional

Created by: Osomatic

Pronunciation: diss + find + shun + ull

Sentence: I got so upset over my missing wallet that I was completely disfindtional. But I did find my mobile phone, at least. Now if I only had some cash...

Etymology: disfunctional + find

| Comments and Points

Wherehead

Created by: mplsbohemian

Pronunciation: HWEHR-hehd

Sentence: I whereheaded about until I saw the keys, at which point I remember that I was looking for them in the first place.

Etymology: where + [air]head

| Comments and Points

Whichhunt

Created by: rikboyee

Pronunciation: which-hunt

Sentence: as he aimlessly entered the kitchen again, he realised he needed to give up this whichhunt.

Etymology: which, hunt, witch hunt

----------------------------
COMMENTS:

excellost! - galwaywegian, 2007-03-15: 06:03:00

This could be rendered as a verb, nice. - mplsbohemian, 2007-03-15: 19:27:00

this works also because, as in a witchhunt, one is actually unlikely to find something when they forget to look for it or won't notice it when they see it - ekath, 2007-03-22: 22:37:00

----------------------------

| Comments and Points

Spacequesting

Created by: jedijawa

Pronunciation: space-quest-ing

Sentence: John had been looking for his keys for so long that he was now spacequesting as he looked right at them without realizing he had found them.

Etymology: space (to be spaced-out as in distracted) + questing (to be searching for something)

| Comments and Points

Diversiamnesia

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: dy ver jha am neez eeya

Sentence: My son, Whatshisname, cannot remember a thing. He suffers from diversiamnesia. I don't know where he gets it from, but he goes into a room and forgets why he went there. Ideas land on his brain but flitter away like little butterflies if he has any distraction at all. My nagging makes it worse according to him, but you cannot trust him to run a simple errand or remember important things. I think he's hitting old age early and his condition is inherited from his father, Whateverhisnamewas. Where was I...???

Etymology: Diversion (a turning aside (of your course or attention or concern); a distraction) & Amnesia (partial or total loss of memory)

----------------------------
COMMENTS:

"hitting old age early" - chuckle! - splendiction, 2009-10-01: 19:15:00

----------------------------

| Comments and Points

Brainmoshed

Created by: jonobo

Pronunciation: brainmoshed

Sentence: He was so brainmoshed, that he didn't realise the keys in his own hands - and if he would, he would have just put them aside an forgot about them...

Etymology: brain + mosh

| Comments and Points

Show All or More...