I was just thinking about this:
Words, obviously, are running thru my head all the time. Thinking randomly, trying to write, trying to speak, etc., whatever. All the time, it will happen that a certain word will run thru my train of thought (as in, as a part of a sentence) and, although it will be a "familiar" word, I'll have no more than the most general idea of what it means. And every time I wonder why this word of all words entered my inner monologue in that context. If someone asked me what these words mean, there's no way in hell I could explain.
But here's the thing: if I look up the word in question (as I usually do if I'm sitting at the computer), not only is my usage of it "correct" probably 98% of the time, my usage of it is usually, by the finest points of the definition, essentially the most exact, perfect word I could use in whatever context I was thinking about. This occurs at a very high percentage, like I'd guess 85-90% of the time.
What is the deal with this? Does this happen to others, i.e. having perfect command of a multitude of words that, at least consciously, you cannot define?
Is "knowing" these words something subconscious, or is the inability to define the words some form of verbal impairment, or what?
As a kid I was big time hyperlexic, but this seems like it's kind of the opposite of that... I'm just wondering if others experience this, and if anyone who does has any insight as to where it comes from...
05 Jun 2009, 3:44 am
