thingamajig
a thing whose name is forgotten
TRANSLATION
das Dingsbums
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"'Elaborate THINGAMAJIG' - England, 1887 91.8 cm ~ bronze, gold, marble, glass, copper, tin, porcelain, lignum vitae, etc."
Description of Victorian antique from the Gladys Dwindlebimmer's Gallery of the Unidentifiable
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“Even in Trafalgar Square, crowded with memorials to Lord Whatshisname and General THINGAMAJIG, the most talked-about memorial is actually the fourth plinth, created to house a heroic statue of some future worthy, but now used instead as a temporary exhibition space for modern art capable of saying something about now rather than then, about us rather than our ancestors.”
David Olusoga - The Guardian
Did you
know?
thingamajig
noun
- a small article the actual name of which one either does not know or cannot remember
- something that is hard to classify or whose name is unknown or forgotten
Merriam-Webster
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ORIGIN
According to The Shorter Oxford Dictionary “Thingamajig” is of early 19th century origin and evolved from Thingummy (late 18th century) which evolved from Thingum (late 17th Century) which evolved from Thing (Old English 6-9th Century), and is related to Old High German (ding) and Old Frisian (thing), both with origins in Norse.
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SYNONYMS
dingus, doodad, doohickey, hickey, thingamabob, thingummy, thingie (thingy) whatchamacallit, whatnot, whatsit (wotsit), wotsisname, wotsername
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USAGES
These are very useful terms for when we are lost for words. Whether no vocabulary exists, or whether we have momentarily forgotten a word:
- Where did I put that thingamajig? (that thing whose name I forgot)
- How did he like the whatchamercallit? (what would you call it)
- The thingie is in the cupboard (the thing)
- What have you done with the wotsit? (what is it)
- Have you seen wotsisname? (what is his name?)
- Where is wotsername? (what is her name?)
Best of all are tricks for pointing to words do not want to say:
- I must do “you know what”
- I have a meeting with “you know who”
Oh, and I just remembered the best one for ending any conversation:
- Must stop now, I have to go you know where!
