Tip of the tongue (also known as TOT , or lethologica ) is the phenomenon of failing to retrieve a word or term from memory , combined with partial recall and the feeling that retrieval is imminent. The phenomenon's name comes from the saying, "It's on the tip of my tongue." The tip of the tongue phenomenon reveals that lexical access occurs in stages.
128-473: Placeholder names are intentionally overly generic and ambiguous terms referring to things, places, or people, the names of which or of whom do not actually exist; are temporarily forgotten , or are unimportant; or in order to avoid stigmatization , or because they are unknowable or unpredictable given the context of their discussion; or to deliberately expunge direct use of the name. Placeholder names for people are often terms referring to an average person or
256-582: A sin . Profanity includes slurs , but most profanities are not slurs, and there are many insults that do not use swear words. Swear words can be discussed or even sometimes used for the same purpose without causing offense or being considered impolite if they are obscured (e.g. "fuck" becomes "f***" or "the f-word") or substituted with a minced oath like "flip". Profanity may be described as offensive language, dirty words, or taboo words, among other descriptors. The term profane originates from classical Latin profanus , literally ' before (outside)
384-596: A TOT state (i.e., the feeling of being on the verge of recalling the word). These participants experienced the subjective feeling of a TOT state only after they were told that their response was incorrect. As a result, it appears that these participants are not aware that their answer is incorrect and only experience the subjective feeling of TOT states if they are told their answer is incorrect. Lorazepam may create conditions where alternative answers come to mind more easily. Furthermore, lorazepam suppresses emotions, which may be why participants taking this drug do not experience
512-469: A bloody miracle , or as an adverb, such as in they drove damn fast . One type of adverbial profanity is to use it as a modal adverb , such as in no you fucking can't . Compound words can be created to create a new modifier, such as pisspoor . Many European languages use profanity to add emphasis to question words in the form of who the hell are you? or with a preposition in the form of what in God's name
640-462: A case of using the name of one group to demean another, Hun came to be associated with a brutish caricature of Germans, first during the Renaissance and again during World War I . Some terms for people of low class or status can become generically profane or derogatory. English examples include villain , lewd , and scum . Profanity is used to indicate the speaker's emotional state, and
768-435: A comedic effect. Profanity often presents as formulaic language , in which specific words can only be used in specific phrases, often developed through grammaticalization . Many of these phrases allow words to be swapped, presenting variations on a phrase like what in the bloody heck , why in the flamin' hell , and how in the fuckin' hell . Profane phrases can be used as anaphoric pronouns , such as replacing him with
896-413: A compromising kind, Such as: What d'ye call him: Thing'em-bob, and likewise: Never-mind, and 'St: 'st: 'st: and What's-his-name, and also You-know-who: The task of filling up the blanks I'd rather leave to you. Some fields have their own specific placeholder terminology. For example, " widget " in economics, engineering and electronics, or " Blackacre " and " John Doe " or "Jane Doe" in law. " X-ray "
1024-413: A cue for a target word, the level of recognition is assessed, and a strong level of recognition will elicit a tip of the tongue state. It has been found that cues that are repetitive tend to create more TOTs than if one single cue is given. This might suggest that cue factors can play a role in causing TOT states. The accessibility heuristic states that TOTs are elicited by the quantity and strength of
1152-450: A cue" or information that they previously failed to remember. This test aims to measure a test subject's accuracy of memory monitoring during the "memory extraction stage". An occasional tip-of-the-tongue state is normal for people of all ages; however, it becomes more frequent as people age. TOT can be referred as an actual medical condition, but only when it becomes frequent enough to interfere with learning or daily life. This disorder
1280-444: A feeling of being seized by the state, feeling something like mild anguish while searching for the word, and a sense of relief when the word is found. While many aspects of the tip-of-the-tongue state remain unclear, there are two major competing explanations for its occurrence: the direct-access view and the inferential view . Emotion and the strength of the emotional ties to what is trying to be remembered can also have an impact on
1408-502: A given context. Those still learning a language, such as children and non-native speakers, are more likely to use profane language without realizing that it is profane. Acceptable environments for profanity are learned in childhood as children find themselves chastised for swearing in some places more than others. Swearing is often milder among young children, and they place more stigma on terms that are not seen as profane by adults, like fart or dork . Young children are more likely to use
SECTION 10
#17327806117011536-417: A hindrance". In contrast, an alternative argument suggests that phonological blockers hinder the ability to retrieve the target word causing a tip of the tongue state. There is more support for the idea that blockers act as neither primers nor enhancers, but rather more like a side effect. In Metcalf & Kornell's research the incubation period helped participants to retrieve the word by the same amount for
1664-507: A level that is high enough for it to be retrieved and the TOT state to be resolved. The transmission deficit model is based on a multi-component theory of memory representation that suggests that semantic and phonological information is stored in memory and retrieved separately. The transmission deficit model posits that TOTs occur when there is activation of the semantic component of the target word memory but this activation does not pass on to
1792-473: A local or magistrates court. Police also have the power to issue fixed penalty notices to alleged offenders. It is a defence in some Australian jurisdictions to have "a reasonable excuse" to conduct oneself in the manner alleged. In Brazil, the Penal Code does not contain any penalties for profanity in public immediately. However, direct offenses against one can be considered a crime against honor , with
1920-417: A material of highly desired characteristics which does not exist or which would be prohibitively expensive to mine, procure or synthesize. Tip of the tongue People experiencing the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon can often recall one or more features of the target word, such as the first letter, its syllabic stress , and words similar in sound, meaning, or both sound and meaning. Individuals report
2048-475: A penalty of imprisonment of one to three months or a fine. The analysis of the offence is considered "subjective", depending on the context of the discussion and the relationship between the parts. Section 175 of Canada's Criminal Code makes it a criminal offence to "cause a disturbance in or near a public place" by "swearing […] or using insulting or obscene language". Provinces and municipalities may also have their laws against swearing in public. For instance,
2176-946: A person as one who masturbates are often used as terms of abuse, such as the English use of jerk-off and wanker . Terms for sexually promiscuous women can be used as profanity, such English terms like hussy and slut . Reference to prostitution brings its own set of profanities. Many profane words exist to refer to a prostitute, such as whore in English, putain in French, puttana in Italian, kurwa in Polish, блять ( blyat' ) in Russian, and puta in Spanish. Some languages, including German and Swedish, do not see significant use of sexual terms as profanity. Profanities for
2304-430: A person's short-term recall of certain words. Moreover, the general advantageous effect of caffeine on attention can be ruled out. Age is an important factor when considering TOT states. Throughout adulthood, the frequency of TOTs increases, especially during the advanced years. Compared with young adults, older adults generally report having more TOT states, fewer alternate words, and less phonological information about
2432-592: A plague on others. The names of various diseases are used as profane words in some languages; Pokkers ( transl. pox ) appears in both Danish and Norwegian as an exclamation and an intensifier. Death is another common theme in Asian languages such as Cantonese . Terminology of mental illness has become more prominent as profanity in the Western world, with terms such as idiot and retard challenging one's mental competency. Profane phrases directed at
2560-479: A predicted persona of a typical user . These placeholders typically function grammatically as nouns and can be used for people (e.g. John Doe, Jane Doe ), objects (e.g. widget ), locations ("Main Street"), or places (e.g. Anytown, USA ). They share a property with pronouns because their referents must be supplied by context; but, unlike a pronoun, they may be used with no referent—the important part of
2688-478: A profane term can vary between dialects within the same language. Publishers of dictionaries must take profanity into consideration when deciding what words to include, especially when they are subject to obscenity laws. They may be wary of appearing to endorse the use of profane language by its inclusion. Slang dictionaries have historically been used to cover profanity in lieu of more formal dictionaries. In some cultures, there are situations where profanity
SECTION 20
#17327806117012816-415: A recall task, participants who received lorazepam showed the same number of total recall answers to participants who had not received lorazepam. However, the lorazepam participants produced more incorrect recall responses to their TOT states. Lorazepam may inhibit the retrieval of the correct response. Participants under the influence of lorazepam did not experience the subjective feeling that they were in
2944-503: A sentence's length without changing its meaning. The use of expletive sometimes refers specifically to profanity as an interjection . Epithet is used to describe profanities directed at a specific person. Some languages do not have a general term for the use of profanities, instead describing it with the phrase "using bad language". These include Mandarin ( zang hua ), Portuguese ( palavrao ), Spanish ( decir palabrotas ), and Turkish ( küfur etmek ). Historical profanity
3072-615: A similar manner to swearing , especially in the United States. Cursing originally referred specifically to the use of language to cast a curse on someone, and in American English it is still commonly associated with wishing harm on another. Equivalents to cursing are used similarly in Danish ( bande ), Italian ( imprecare ), and Norwegian ( banne ). The terms swearing and cursing have strong associations with
3200-544: A similar use is Waikikamukau ("Why kick a moo-cow"), a generic name for a small rural town. In British English , Bongo Bongo Land (or Bongo-bongo Land) is a pejorative term used to refer to Third World countries, particularly in Africa, or to a fictional such country. Often used in example names and addresses to indicate to the serviceman where to put his own details. In chemistry, tentative or hypothetical elements are assigned provisional names until their existence
3328-484: A social environment as informal, and mark the speaker as part of an in-group . The way speakers use profanity in social settings allows them to project their identity and personality through communication style, and in some circumstances it can be used as a method used to impress one's peers. Stylistic swearing is used to add emphasis or intensity to speech, which can be used to emphasize an idea in an aggressive or authoritative fashion, make an idea memorable, or produce
3456-469: A specific demographic. These are used to project xenophobia and prejudice , often through the use of stereotypes . They typically develop in times of increased contact of conflict between different races or ethnic groups, including times of war between two or more nations. Terms for minority groups are sometimes used as swears. This can apply to both profane terms such as kike or non-profane terms such as gay . Many of these are culture-specific. In
3584-404: A swear. The Cockney dialect of English uses rhyming slang to alter terms, including profanity; titty is rhymed as Bristol city , which is then abbreviated as bristols . Speakers and authors may engage in self-censorship under legal or social pressure. In the 21st century, censorship through social pressure is associated with political correctness in Western society. This has led to
3712-446: A task seems monolingual, bilingual system is never functionally "off." Lorazepam is a type of benzodiazepine , a psychoactive drug used for the short-term treatment of anxiety , insomnia , acute seizures inducing a state of sedation in hospitalized patients, as well as sedation of aggressive patients. Research has been conducted to investigate the effects of lorazepam on TOT states in response to general knowledge question. In
3840-440: A term of abuse for a dishonest person in a criminal setting. Profanity is often associated with lower class professions like soldiers and carters . Expectancy violations theory holds that expectations about a speaker's behavior come from impressions based not only on the speaker's identity, but how the specific speaker typically communicates and the socially expected way to speak to a given listener. Swearing in formal contexts
3968-753: A term of abuse with klotzaak . Words for the buttocks are used as a term of disapproval in many languages, including English ( ass or arse ), French ( cul ), Polish ( dupa ), Russian ( жопа , zhopa ), and Spanish ( culo ). Similar words for the anus appear in languages like Danish ( røvhul ), English ( asshole or arsehole ), German ( Arschloch ), Icelandic ( rassgat ), Norwegian ( rasshøl ), and Polish ( dupek ). Excrement and related concepts are commonly invoked in profanity. European examples include shit in English, merde in French, scheiss in German, and stronzo in Italian. Illness has historically been used to swear by wishing
Placeholder name - Misplaced Pages Continue
4096-450: A tip of the tongue state. This study was the foundation for subsequent research about tip of the tongue phenomenon. Tip of the tongue experiences occur in both men and women, and is known to occur in young adulthood, middle age, and older adulthood. TOT experiences in childhood have not been studied. Education level is not thought to be a factor in the experience of TOT states. Monolinguals, bilinguals, and multilinguals all experience tip of
4224-424: A vulgar word can constitute a swear word. Conversely, words with greater connotative senses are not always used profanely. Bastard and son of a bitch are more readily used as general terms of abuse in English compared to terrorist and rapist , despite the latter two being terms being associated with strongly immoral behavior. Some profane phrases are used metaphorically in a way that still retains elements of
4352-521: A word is influenced by the age in life at which that word was first learned. Specifically, early-acquired words tend to be named more quickly and accurately than late-acquired words (age of acquisition effect). It has been observed that the probability of experiencing a TOT state depends on the age at which the word is acquired in life: more TOT states are obtained with late-acquired than with early-acquired words. Profanity Profanity , also known as swearing , cursing , or cussing , involves
4480-652: Is East Cupcake to refer to a generic small town in the Midwestern United States . Similarly, the boondocks or the boonies are used in American English to refer to very rural areas without many inhabitants. In New Zealand English , Woop Woops (or, alternatively, Wop-wops ) is a (generally humorous) name for an out-of-the-way location, usually rural and sparsely populated. The similar Australian English Woop Woop , (or, less frequently, Woop Woops ) can refer to any remote location, or outback town or district. Another New Zealand English term with
4608-439: Is a common symptom of patients with aphasia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Research has been conducted to find out how these particular diseases affect TOTs in these individuals. In a study by Beeson, Holland, and Murray (1997), participants with Alzheimer's disease and three classic aphasic syndromes (Broca's, anomic, and conduction aphasia) were instructed to name famous people. Those with anomic aphasia showed to be superior to
4736-406: Is a greater violation of expectations than swearing in informal conversation. Whether the profanity is spoken in public or private is also a factor in social acceptability. Conversations that involve profanity are correlated with other informal manners of speech, such as slang, humor, and discussion of sexuality. Native speakers of a language can intuitively decide what language is appropriate for
4864-497: Is a placeholder name that evokes the perception of London 's high Muslim population. Timbuktu , which is also a real city in the country of Mali, is often used to mean a place that is far away, in the middle of nowhere, or exotic. Podunk is used in American English for a hypothetical small town regarded as typically dull or insignificant, a place in the U.S. that is unlikely to have been heard of. Another example
4992-456: Is another form of euphemism, with English examples including the replacement of fuck with the f-word or effing and the use of " four-letter words " to refer to profanity in general. Chinese and some Southeast Asian languages use puns and sound-alikes to create alternate swear words. The Chinese word for bird, niao , rhymes with the Chinese word for penis and is frequently invoked as
5120-536: Is associated with neurological conditions such as Tourette syndrome , dementia , and epilepsy . The ability to use profanity can remain intact even when neurological trauma causes aphasia . Frequent swearing is more common among people with damage to the brain or other parts of the nervous system . Damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex can negatively affect one's ability to control their use of profanity and other socially inappropriate behaviors. Damage to Broca's area and other language-processing regions of
5248-498: Is associated with the right hemisphere . Swearing is associated with both language-processing parts of the brain, the left frontal and temporal lobes, as well as the emotion-processing parts, the right cerebrum and the amygdala . The association of emotional swearing with the amygdala and other parts of the limbic system suggests that some uses of profanity are related to the fight-or-flight response . Profanity requires more mental processing than other forms of language, and
Placeholder name - Misplaced Pages Continue
5376-409: Is called anomic aphasia when acquired by brain damage, usually from a head injury , stroke , or dementia . The tip of the tongue phenomenon has implications for research in psycholinguistics , memory , and metacognition . The term "tip of the tongue" is borrowed from colloquial usage, and possibly a calque from the French phrase avoir le mot sur le bout de la langue ("having the word on
5504-605: Is common in Polish, for example, while swearing in Dutch is more commonly in reference to disease. Words for excrement and for the buttocks have profane variants across most cultures. Though religious swears were historically more severe, modern society across much of the world has come to see sexual and anatomical swears to be more vulgar. Common profane phrases sometimes incorporate more than one category of profanity for increased effect. The Spanish phrase me cago en Dios y en la Puta Virgen ( transl. I shit on God and on
5632-476: Is commonly used as a placeholder country. Acacia Avenue has been used as shorthand for an average suburban residential street in Britain. Something -stan and its demonym something -stani, where something is often profanity , is commonly used as a placeholder for a Middle Eastern or South Asian country/people or for a politically disliked portion of one's own country/people. As an example, Londonistan
5760-477: Is confirmed by IUPAC . Historically, this placeholder name would follow Mendeleev's nomenclature ; since the Transfermium wars , however, the consensus has been to assign a systematic element name based on the element's atomic number. Examples of these systems in use would be "ekasilicon" ( germanium ) and "ununseptium" ( tennessine ) respectively. Similarly, the name " unobtainium " is frequently used for
5888-682: Is considered acceptable, including its presence in the home and children's access to broadcasts. Profanity may be avoided when discussing taboo subjects through euphemisms . Euphemisms were historically used to avoid invoking the names of malevolent beings. Euphemisms are commonly expressed as metaphors, such as make love or sleep with as descriptors of sexual intercourse. Euphemisms can be alternate descriptors such as white meat instead of breast meat , or they may be generic terms such as unmentionables . Minced oaths are euphemisms that modify swear words until they are no longer profane, such as darn instead of damn in English. Substitution
6016-634: Is difficult to reconstruct, as written records may not reflect spoken language. Despite being relatively well known compared to other linguistic mechanisms, profanity has historically been understudied because of its taboo nature. Profanity may be studied as an aspect of linguistics and sociology, or it can be a psychological and neurological subject. Besides interpersonal communication, understanding of profanity has legal implications and related to theories of language learning. In modern European languages, swearing developed from early Christianity, primarily through restrictions on taking God's name in vain in
6144-442: Is disagreement as to whether freedom of speech should permit all forms of profane speech, including hate speech, or if such forms of speech can be justifiably restricted. Censorship is used to restrict or penalize profanity, and governments may implement laws that disallow certain acts of profanity, including legal limitations on the broadcast of profanity over radio or television. Broadcasting has unique considerations as to what
6272-407: Is done involuntarily as an emotional response to excitement or displeasure. Frequent swearing can become a habit, even if the speaker does not have a specific intention of being profane. Profanity is often used as a slot filler, which functions as a modifier , and modifying a noun with a swear is commonly used to indicate dislike. A profane word can modify words as an adjective, such as in it's
6400-553: Is especially common in Arabic. Self-immolating oaths, such as I'll be damned , involve speakers casting harm upon themselves. These are often invoked as conditional statements based on whether something is true— I'll be damned if... Profanity directed at an individual can take the form of an unfriendly suggestion. English examples include go to hell and kiss my ass . Some profanities, such as your mother ! , imply taboos or swear words without using them explicitly. Whether speech
6528-407: Is good etiquette. A tradition exists in some parts of China that a bride was expected to speak profanely to her groom's family in the days before the wedding, and one Aboriginal Australian culture uses profanity to denote class. The idea of censoring taboo ideas exists in all cultures. Swearing inappropriately can be punished socially, and public swearing can bring about legal consequences. There
SECTION 50
#17327806117016656-488: Is hypothesized that the anterior cingulate cortex and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex operate as a circuit to detect conflict, and may perform this role in detecting the conflict between the feeling of knowing the target word and the recall failure. The anterior cingulate cortex is also implicated in emotion and may show activation because of the emotional response to the tip of the tongue state. The posterior medial parietal cortex, bilateral lateral parietal cortex, and
6784-438: Is low-frequency; that is, it has not been used or recalled for some time. The recency of information use can influence the retrieval process of that information. The presentation of a prime is only needed once for it to facilitate TOT state resolution. Support for priming has been found in that when individuals are given the first letter of the word they are trying to recall, they are more likely to overcome their TOT state. When
6912-508: Is most common in Russian. Though profanity exists in nearly all cultures, there is variation in when it is used and how it affects the meaning of speech. Each language has unique profane phrases influenced by culture. Japanese is sometimes described as having no swear words, though it has a concept of warui kotoba ( transl. bad words ) that are not based on taboos but are otherwise functionally equivalent to swears. One linguistic theory proposes that sound symbolism influences
7040-462: Is obscure—Flexner and Wentworth related it to the generic word gin for engine (as in the cotton gin ). It may also relate to the Irish surname Cadigan . Placeholder words exist in a highly informal register of the English language. In formal speech and writing, words like accessory , paraphernalia , artifact , instrument , or utensil are preferred; these words serve substantially
7168-448: Is often seen as more socially acceptable when coming from men, and it is commonly associated with machismo . Profanity varies in how it affects a speaker's credibility. It can be seen as unprofessional in some circumstances, but it can make an argument more persuasive in others. Milder words can become more impactful in different circumstances; cheat may be more provocative in schools or gambling clubs, and informer replaces crook as
7296-514: Is primarily notable for the alertness effect that it has on people. Research has been performed involving phonological priming and TOTs in which participants took either 200 mg of caffeine or a placebo. The participants answered 100 general knowledge questions, each with one correct answer. For each question, participants read 10 priming words that were displayed on a monitor for a short period of time. Each list of 10 priming words had between two and eight words that were phonologically related to
7424-494: Is profane depends on context, because what is taboo or impolite in one environment might not be in another. Swear words vary in their intensity, and speakers of a language might disagree that weaker swear words are actually profane. Isolated profanities are often seen as more profane than those used in context. The identity of the speaker affects how profanity is seen, as different cultures may hold classes, sexes, age groups, and other identities to different standards. Profanity
7552-591: Is sometimes made between religious profanity, which is casual, versus blasphemy, which is intentionally leveled against a religious concept. It was commonly believed among early civilizations that speaking about certain things can invoke them or bring about curses. Many cultures have taboos about speaking the names of evil creatures such as Satan because of these historical fears. Religions commonly develop derogatory words for those who are not among their members. Medieval Christianity developed terms like heathen and infidel to describe outsiders. Secularization in
7680-595: Is that? . Modifier profanities are frequently used as an expletive attributive , or intensifiers that put emphasis on specific ideas. These commonly take the form of interjections to express strong emotion, such as the English examples bloody hell and for fuck's sake . Such stand-alone profanities are among the most common in natural speech. Expletive infixation is the use of a profane word as an intensifier inside of another word, such as modifying absolutely to become abso-fucking-lutely . Some languages use swear words that can generically replace nouns and verbs. This
7808-447: Is unclear if the blockers given produce TOT states or act as retrieval cues . The hypothesis that blockers act more like retrieval cues is mainly supported by the idea of phonological similarities between the target word and the blocker word. Phonological blockers are words that sound similar to the target word. According to Bown & Harley, "phonological neighbors (of blockers) usually act as support in lexical retrieval rather than as
SECTION 60
#17327806117017936-596: The Gospel of Matthew implies condemnation of all swearing, though only the Quakers have imposed such a ban. Islam , Judaism , and Brahmanism forbid mention of God's name entirely. In some countries, profanity words often have pagan roots that after Christian influence were turned from names of deities and spirits to profanity and used as such, like perkele in Finnish, which was believed to be an original name of
8064-492: The Old Testament . Invocations of God were seen as attempts to call upon his power, willing something to be true or leveling a curse. Other mentions of God were seen as placing oneself over him, with the person uttering a name implying power over the name's owner. Modern study of profanity as its own subject of inquiry had started by 1901. Sigmund Freud influenced study of the topic by positing that swearing reflects
8192-662: The Western world has seen exclamations such as God! divorced from their religious connotations. Religious profanity is not inherent to all languages, being absent from Japanese, indigenous languages of the Americas , and most Polynesian languages . European languages historically used the crucifixion of Jesus as a focal point for profane interjections. Phrases meaning "death of God" were used in languages like English (' Sdeath ), French ( Mort de Dieu ), and Swedish ( Guds död ) Christian profanity encompasses both appeals to
8320-522: The metacognitive theory that is mentioned above. In this theory, TOTs inform the cognitive system if the information one is trying to recall is accessible. Thus, emotions may play a role in experiencing TOT. Some research has shown that questions that elicit emotional arousal create TOTs more so than questions that are not emotionally arousing. It has also been found that emotional arousal can extend to subsequent questions or information being recalled even if they are not emotionally arousing themselves. It
8448-413: The syntactic class of the priming word. Priming words that are in the same syntactic class as the target word create no difference in TOT state resolution. The TOT state resolution was the same for priming words in the same syntactic class and unrelated priming words. If the priming word is being listed in conjunction with other unrelated priming words, then the position is of importance. The earlier in
8576-406: The Italian porco dio ( transl. pig of a God ). Animal-related profanity is distinct from other forms in that it is used similarly across different languages. Terms for dogs are among the most common animal swears across languages, alongside those for cows, donkeys, and pigs. Swear words related to monkeys are common in Arabic and East Asian cultures. Slurs are words that target
8704-405: The TOT phenomenon. The stronger the emotional ties, the longer it takes to retrieve the item from memory. TOT states should be distinguished from FOK ( feeling of knowing ) states. FOK, in contrast, is the feeling that one will be able to recognize—from a list of items—an item that is currently inaccessible. There are still currently opposing hypotheses in the psychological literature regarding
8832-421: The ability to retrieve the correct word. This accounts for why TOTs predict memory performance. Once the inhibition of the correct word is removed or the blockers are forgotten, the TOT will be resolved. Evidence for this hypothesis is minimal as it is difficult to measure. Most research that takes on this approach give participants blockers and see if they produce TOT states. This method is controversial as it
8960-558: The amount of memory recalled and attributions of nostalgia. The issue regarding emotion and TOT is how it influences the tip-of-the-tongue state and the information that is trying to be recalled. It is common for individuals to ascribe emotions to TOTs. It is suggested that the majority of individuals experience TOTs negatively. It has been shown that experiencing an emotion predicts TOT memory performance later. Emotional TOTs are more likely to be recalled later than TOTs that had no emotional experience attached. Emotion and TOT are related to
9088-480: The bastard in tell the bastard to mind his own business . They can similarly be used to support a noun instead of replacing it, such as in John is a boring son of a bitch . Though profanity is usually associated with taboo words, obscene non-verbal acts such as hand gestures may be considered profane. Spitting in someone's direction has historically been seen as a strong insult. Exposure of certain body parts, often
9216-533: The bilateral superior prefrontal cortex are involved in retrieval and evaluation, and therefore may play a role in the metacognitive processes involved in the tip of the tongue phenomenon such as the evaluation of one's own knowledge and the probability of retrieval. There is a significant difference in the amount of TOTs experienced by monolinguals and bilinguals. Bilinguals seem to report the same amount of TOTs as monolinguals for proper names but significantly more TOTs for other words. Specifically, when adjusted for
9344-401: The brain can similarly make people prone to outbursts. Damage to the right hemisphere limits the ability to understand and regulate the emotional content of one's speech. In every Australian state and territory it is a crime to use offensive, indecent or insulting language in or near a public place. These offences are classed as summary offences . This means that they are usually tried before
9472-416: The brain show increased activation in a TOT state. The following is a list of the specific structures that show increased activation during a tip of the tongue state: It was also shown that in TOT state the activation of the parahippocampal gyrus is decreased. Not much is known about the exact function of these areas in the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. The areas activated during TOT may vary depending on
9600-471: The communication is not the thing nominally referred to by the placeholder, but the context in which the placeholder occurs. In their Dictionary of American Slang (1960), Stuart Berg Flexner and Harold Wentworth use the term kadigan for placeholder words. They define "kadigan" as a synonym for thingamajig . The term may have originated with Willard R. Espy , though others, such as David Annis, also used it (or cadigans ) in their writing. Its etymology
9728-426: The correct answer of the question, with the remaining words being unrelated. Caffeinated participants had fewer TOT experiences than the placebo group, suggesting better memory recall. However, in the unrelated condition, the caffeinated group did not do as well as the placebo group in their ability to retrieve words. The results suggest that this dose of caffeine (equivalent to two cups of coffee) can temporarily hinder
9856-445: The definitions) of rare words to the study participants, and asked them to name the object or concept being defined. When the target word was later read by the experimenter participants were instructed to report whether they experienced a tip of the tongue state. Three types of positive TOT states were identified by Brown and McNeill: If a participant indicated a tip of the tongue state, they were asked to provide any information about
9984-606: The degree of use of the dominant and less-dominant language, bilinguals have more TOTs with the less-dominant language. In a task of picture-naming, bilingual speakers were slower than monolinguals, even when they could use their first and dominant language. This could possibly be the result of bilinguals using the words less often than monolingual speakers. Bilinguals also represent virtually twice as many words and additional cognitive mechanisms for activation and inactivation of languages. Such mechanisms introduce added processing burden that monolinguals do not face. In addition, even when
10112-1127: The divine, such as God or heaven, and to the diabolic, such as the Devil or hell. While the impact of religious swearing has declined in the Christian world, diabolic swearing remains profane in Germany and the Nordic countries . Islamic profanity lacks a diabolic element, referring only to divine concepts like Muhammad or holy places. Words related to Catholicism, known as sacres , are used in Quebec French profanity , and are considered to be stronger than other profane words in French. Examples of sacres considered profane in Quebec are tabarnak ( tabernacle ), hostie ( host ), and sacrament ( sacrament ). When used as profanities, sacres are often interchangeable. The Book of Leviticus indicates that blasphemous language warrants death, while
10240-441: The end of the 20th century. Another increase in the study of profanity took place with the onset of the 21st century. Profanities have literal meanings, but they are invoked to indicate a state of mind, making them dependent almost entirely on connotation and emotional associations with the word, as opposed to literal denotation . The connotative function of profanity allows the denotative meaning to shift more easily, causing
10368-410: The finger experiences are reported by signers. The causes of TOTs are largely unknown but numerous explanations have been offered. These explanations mainly fall within the realms of two overarching viewpoints: the direct-access view and the inferential view . The direct-access view posits that the state occurs when memory strength is not enough to recall an item, but is strong enough to trigger
10496-495: The genitals or buttocks, is also seen as profane in many parts of the world. Though cursing often refers to the use of profanity in general, it can refer to more specific phrases of harm such as damn you or a pox on you . Historically, people swore by or to the ideas that they were invoking, instead of swearing at something. Oaths in which the speaker swears by something, such as by God , can be used as interjections or intensifiers, typically without religious connotation. This
10624-555: The information that is retrieved from memory when the target word itself is not. When searching for a target word, the more information that is retrieved from memory, and the more the information retrieved is perceived to be related to the target word, the more likely a TOT state will be elicited. The body of research on the neurological mechanisms of the tip of the tongue phenomenon is limited. The research in this area has used magnetoencephalography (MEG) and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Several areas of
10752-443: The intentional creation of new euphemisms to avoid terms that may be stigmatizing. Some become widely accepted, such as substance abuse for drug addiction , while others are ignored or derided, such as differently abled for disabled . The brain processes profanity differently than it processes other forms of language. Intentional controlled swearing is associated with the brain's left hemisphere , while reflexive swearing
10880-417: The lack of frequent use of a word, the lack of recent use of a word, and aging. The inferential view of TOTs claims that TOTs aren't completely inaccessible, but arise from clues about the target that the rememberer can piece together. This is to say that the rememberer infers their knowledge of the target word, and the imminence of retrieval depends upon the information that they are able to access about
11008-412: The left insula for older individuals. This is accompanied by less activity in the left insula and is related to higher frequency of TOTs. Furthermore, it was found that older individuals have over-activation in their prefrontal cortex when experiencing TOT states. This may indicate a continued search when the retrieval process fails and a TOT state is experienced. More specifically, greater activation in
11136-449: The list the priming word is, the less likely it is to help resolve the TOT state. It is unknown whether gesturing is helpful in finding the elusive word in a TOT experience. It is difficult to determine if the participant is using gestures as their regular form of communication or if they are using gestures in order to help them overcome their TOT experience and retrieve the target word. The speed and accuracy with which speakers retrieve
11264-587: The listener's female relatives, either by describing sexual activity involving them or suggesting that the listener engage in activities with them. Aboriginal Australian languages sometimes invoke one's deceased ancestors in profanity. The names of political ideologies are sometimes invoked as swear words by their opponents. Fascist is commonly used as an epithet in the modern era, replacing historical use of radical . Far-left groups have historically used words like capitalist and imperialist as terms of abuse, while Western speakers use communist in
11392-455: The listener's mother exist across numerous major languages, though it is absent from Germanic languages with the exception of English. These phrases often include terms of abuse that implicate the subject's mother, such as son of a bitch in English or wáng bā dàn ( transl. child of a cuckolded man ) in Mandarin. Russian profanity places heavy emphasis on the sexual conduct of
11520-617: The mildest terms as swear words, such as pooh-pooh . Adolescents develop an understanding of double meanings in terms like balls . The severity of a swear word may decline over time as it is repeated. In some cases, slurs can be reclaimed by the targeted group when they are used ironically or in a positive context, such as queer to refer to the LGBTQ community . People who speak multiple languages often have stronger emotional associations with profanity in their native languages over that of languages that they acquire later. The severity of
11648-521: The nature of the target word. For example, if the target word is a person's name, the fusiform face area will likely show activation as the rememberer processes the person's face. Problems like this make it difficult to determine what areas are specifically implicated in TOT states, and which are a byproduct of other cognitive functions. However, some inferences can be made about the roles of these structures based on theories of their functions derived from other studies of these structures, unrelated to TOT. It
11776-420: The negative associations of swear words mean they are often emotionally charged. Expressions of anger and frustration are the most common reason for swearing. Such expressions are associated with abusive profanity, which is the most negatively charged and is specifically chosen to insult or offend the subject. This may take the form of a direct insult, such as calling the subject an asshole , or by addressing
11904-414: The original meaning, such as the English phrases all hell broke loose or shit happens , which carry the negative associations of hell and shit as undesirable places and things. Others are nonsensical when interpreted literally, like take a flying fuck in English as well as putain de merde ( whore of shit ) in French and porca Madonna ( the sow of Madonna ) in Italian. A distinction
12032-512: The original non-blocked TOTs and the blocked TOTs. This suggests that blockers have no effect on the retrieval or the causes of tip of the tongue states. The incomplete activation hypothesis states that TOTs occur when the target word in memory is not sufficiently activated to be recalled but rememberers can sense its presence nonetheless. The accessibility of the target word fluctuates due to factors that increase its activation level, such as cues. The target word's activation level may fluctuate to
12160-484: The other groups in identification of initial letters. Dyslexia , which is a reading disability in which a person is unable to read and interpret words, letters, and symbols, has also been known to have an effect on the frequency of TOT experiences. In one study, dyslexic children experienced TOT states more often than children who read normally as well as showed "more errors in the phonological ... step of word retrieval." However, dyslexic children were still able to recall
12288-562: The other groups in their ability to name famous people that were presented. This finding was expected as the group has relatively mild aphasia. However, the Broca's conduction and AD groups did not differ in immediate or delayed naming of famous faces. All of the groups provided some basic identifying semantic information for at least half of the items presented, suggesting a fair number of items potentially in TOT. Conduction and Broca's groups showed strongest evidence of TOT, performing better than
12416-663: The penis and vulva are often used as interjections. Penile interjections are often used in Italian ( cazzo ), Russian ( хуй , khuy ), and Spanish ( carajo ). Vulvar interjections are often used in Dutch ( kut ), Hungarian ( pisca ), Russian ( пизда , pizda ), Spanish ( coño ), and Swedish ( fitta ). Such terms, especially those relating to the vulva, may also be used as terms of abuse. Profanities related to testicles are less common and their function varies across languages. They may be used as interjections, such as in English ( balls or bollocks ), Italian ( coglione ), and Spanish ( cojones ). Danish uses testicles as
12544-492: The phonological level of the memory of the target word. Thus, TOTs are caused by the deficit in transmission of activation from the semantic memory store to the phonological memory store. According to cognitive psychologists Deborah M. Burke, of Pomona College , and Donald G. MacKay, of the University of California, Los Angeles , this phenomenon occurs due primarily to three reasons, all based on weakened neural connection:
12672-433: The prime word has similar phonology to the target word, an increase in the frequency of TOT states and a higher frequency of correctly recalled words when the TOT state is resolved is observed. Incorrect words come to mind involuntarily that share similar phonological features with the target word. Thus, phonological similarity can both decrease and increase TOT states. However, it is possible to fix this problem by changing
12800-481: The pronunciation of profanities. This includes the suggestion that profanities are more likely to include plosives , but this remains unstudied, especially outside of Indo-European languages . The use of profanity is the most common way to express taboo ideas. The dichotomy between its taboo nature and its prevalence in day-to-day life is studied as the "swearing paradox". It is used casually in some social settings, which can facilitate bonding and camaraderie, denote
12928-565: The prostitute Virgin ) invokes scatological, religious, and sexual profanity. Other swear words do not refer to any subject, such as the English word bloody when used in its profane sense. Not all taboo words are used in swearing, with many only being used in a literal sense. Clinical or academic terminology for bodily functions and sexual activity are distinct from profanity. This includes words such as excrement and copulate in English, which are not typically invoked as swears. Academics who study profanity disagree on whether literal use of
13056-431: The retrieval of a word related to the target that then blocks the retrieval of the correct word and causes the tip of the tongue phenomenon to occur. In other words, TOTs occur when plausible but incorrect responses to a query come to mind quickly. The person recognizes that the related words are incorrect but cannot retrieve the correct word because it is inhibited. These related words are termed blockers because they block
13184-525: The same function, but differ in connotation. Most of these words can be documented in at least the 19th century. Edgar Allan Poe wrote a short story entitled "The Literary Life of Thingum Bob, Esq.", showing that particular form to be in familiar use in the United States in the 1840s. In Gilbert and Sullivan 's The Mikado , W. S. Gilbert makes the Lord High Executioner sing of a "little list" which includes: ... apologetic statesmen of
13312-452: The same manner . The use of political terms in a profane sense often leads to the term becoming less impactful or losing relevance as a political descriptor entirely. Words for animals can be used as terms of abuse despite not being inherently profane, commonly referencing some attribute of the animal. Examples in English include bitch to demean a woman or louse to describe someone unwanted. They may also be used in interjections like
13440-402: The semantic meaning behind each word that induced a TOT state. Research on priming and practice use single word tests to assess for the presence of TOT states. The first letter of the target word or a similar-sounding word is given in order to prime for the target word. Evidence that comes from the usefulness of priming and practice in reducing TOT states is that most information in TOT states
13568-518: The sensorimotor cortex in older individuals and less in younger adults may reflect differences in the knowledge that is used to retrieve the target information. Priming words during word retrieval tests generally reduces the frequency of TOTs and improves the retrieval of the target word and has been shown to have a larger benefit for older adults. This is consistent with the spreading activation model, where neural connections are strengthened when used more. Although older people experience more tip of
13696-433: The separability of the process underlying these concepts. However, there is some evidence that TOTs and FOKs draw on different parts of the brain. TOTs are associated with the anterior cingulate, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and right inferior cortex while FOKs are not. FOKs can be assessed through memory-monitoring testing in which a test subject is asked to "estimate the likelihood" of recognizing when "prompted with
13824-401: The state. That is, the rememberer has direct access to the target word's presence in memory, even though it cannot be immediately recalled. Theories of the causes of tip of the tongue phenomenon that adopt direct-access views include the blocking hypothesis , the incomplete-activation hypothesis , and the transmission-deficit model . The blocking hypothesis states that retrieval cues elicit
13952-435: The subconscious, including feelings of aggression, antisocial inclinations , and the broaching of taboos. Significant activity began in the 1960s with writings on the subject by Ashley Montagu and Edward Sagarin , followed by increased study the following decade. Specific types of discriminatory profanity, such as ethnophaulism and homophobia, came to be described as part of a broader type of profanity, hate speech , toward
14080-538: The subject profanely, such as telling someone to fuck off . It can also be used to indicate contempt . Cathartic profanity is used as an expression of annoyance, and it is often considered less rude than profanity directed at a specific subject. Profanity can be used as a statement of agreement or disagreement, though disagreement is more common; the hell it is and my ass are examples of English profanities that indicate disagreement. The potent nature of swearing means that it can be used to gain attention, including
14208-418: The subjective feelings that accompany TOT states; thus enabling the recall of alternative responses. These findings suggest that lorazepam does not increase the probability of TOT states but it does inhibit the retrieval of correct responses and the subjective feeling of TOT states, leading participants to give incorrect answers without being aware. Caffeine can have multiple effects at the cellular level but
14336-421: The target word from their memory. These views disregard the presence of the target word in memory as having an effect on creating tip of the tongue states. Cue-familiarity theory suggests that the strong feelings elicited by recognizing a familiar cue about the target word cause the tip of the tongue phenomenon. A familiar cue should create a TOT state, whether or not the target word is known. When one encounters
14464-428: The target word they could recall. Brown and McNeill found that participants could identify the first letter of the target word, the number of syllables of the target word, words of similar sound, words of similar meaning, syllabic pattern, and the serial position of some letters in the target word better than would be expected by chance. Their findings demonstrated the legitimacy of the feeling of knowing experienced in
14592-575: The target word. The underpinnings of TOT with regard to age have focused on neurological brain differences. Current research using neuroimaging compared the brain patterns of younger and older individuals experiencing TOT states. It appears that both older and younger individuals employ a similar network of brain regions during TOT states such as the prefrontal cortex , left insula , and sensorimotor cortex. However, older individuals show differences in activity in some areas compared to younger individuals. TOTs increase with age-related gray matter loss in
14720-570: The temple ' , pro meaning ' outside ' and fanum meaning ' temple, sanctuary ' . This further developed in Middle English with the meaning to desecrate a temple . In English, swearing is a catch-all linguistic term for the use of profanities, even if it does not involve taking an oath . The only other languages that use the same term for both profanities and oaths are French ( jurer ), Canadian French ( sacrer ), and Swedish ( svära ). English uses cursing in
14848-685: The thunder god Ukko , the chief god of the Finnish pagan pantheon. Profanity related to sexual activity, including insults related to genitals, exists across cultures. The specific aspects invoked are sensitive to a given culture, with differences in how much they emphasize ideas like incest or adultery. Certain types of sex acts, such as oral sex, anal sex, or masturbation, may receive particular attention. Verbs describing sexual activity are frequently profane, like fuck in English, foutre in French, fottere in Italian, jodido in Spanish, and ебать ( yebatˈ ) in Russian. Words describing
14976-431: The tip of the tongue"). The tip of the tongue phenomenon was first described as a psychological phenomenon in the text The Principles of Psychology by William James (1890), although he did not label it as such. Sigmund Freud also discussed unconscious psychological factors, such as unconscious thoughts and impulses that might cause forgetting familiar words. The first empirical research on this phenomenon
15104-441: The tongue states more often than any other category, recent studies have shown that frequent tip of the tongue states are not linked at all to dementia, which is common in the elderly. Despite the association of increased age with lower levels of episodic memory and more frequent TOT states, the two phenomena seem to be largely independent of one another. It is well documented that emotion influences many memory variables such as
15232-416: The tongue states, although with varying frequencies (see § Effects of bilingualism below). Many languages other than English have equivalent colloquial terms for the tip of the tongue experience, suggesting that it is a common experience across cultures. In a study by B. L. Schwartz (1999), 45 of the 51 languages surveyed have an idiom referring to the tip of the tongue phenomenon that references
15360-478: The tongue, mouth, or throat as a metaphor . The direct English translations of these idioms are "on the tongue", "on the tip/point/head of the tongue", "on the top of the tongue", "on the front of the tongue", "sparkling at the end of the tongue", and "in the mouth and throat". Notably, the languages studied that did not have an equivalent idiom for the tip of the tongue were American Sign Language , Amharic , Icelandic , Kalenjin , and Kiswahili . However, tip of
15488-410: The use of notionally offensive words for a variety of purposes, including to demonstrate disrespect or negativity, to relieve pain, to express a strong emotion, as a grammatical intensifier or emphasis, or to express informality or conversational intimacy. In many formal or polite social situations, it is considered impolite (a violation of social norms ), and in some religious groups it is considered
15616-435: The use of profanity in anger. Various efforts have been made to classify different types of profanity, but there is no widely accepted typology and terms are used interchangeably. Blasphemy and obscenity are used similarly to profanity , though blasphemy has retained its religious connotation. Expletive is another English term for the use of profanity, derived from its original meaning of adding words to change
15744-428: The use of profanity is easier to remember when recalling a conversation or other speech. Exposure to profanity leads to higher levels of arousal , and it can cause increases in heart rate and electrodermal activity as part of a fight-or-flight response. Swearing has also been shown to increase pain tolerance , especially among people who do not regularly swear. Compulsive swearing is called coprolalia , and it
15872-419: The use of profanity to cause shock. In some circumstances, swearing can be used as a form of politeness, such as when a speaker gives positive reinforcement by describing something as pretty fucking good . Propositional or controlled swearing is done consciously, and speakers choose their wording and how to express it. This is more common when using descriptive swearing. Non-propositional or reflexive swearing
16000-403: The word to shift until its meaning is unrelated to its origin or to lose meaning and impact altogether. Literal meanings in modern profanity typically relate to religion, sex, or the human body, which creates a dichotomy between the use of highbrow religious swears and lowbrow anatomical swears. Languages and cultures place different emphasis on the subjects of profanity. Anatomical profanity
16128-408: Was found that emotional arousal increased the likelihood of experiencing TOT. Neuroimaging has also found activation in some areas that are associated with emotion; specifically in the anterior cingulate cortex . If the inability to recall words, phrases, or names is a temporary but debilitating disorder, it is known as lethologica. Anomic aphasia is the inability to recall words and names and
16256-737: Was originally a placeholder name for an unexplained phenomenon. Placeholder names are commonly used in computing : Certain domain names in the format example .tld (such as example.com , example.net , and example.org ) are officially reserved as placeholders for the purpose of presentation. Various example reserved IP addresses exist in IPv4 and IPv6 , such as 192.0.2.0 in IPv4 documentation and 2001:db8:: in IPv6 documentation. Placeholders such as Main Street , Your County , and Anytown are often used in sample mailing addresses. Ruritania
16384-462: Was undertaken by Harvard researchers Roger Brown and David McNeill and published in 1966 in the Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior . Brown and McNeill wanted to determine whether the feeling of imminent retrieval experienced in the tip of the tongue state was based on actual retrieval ability or was just an illusion. In their study, Brown and McNeill read out definitions (and only
#700299