Friday, December 11, 2009

Fuddled

"Do you want another waffle?" I'll say, as I hold a pancake inches from my daughter's plate.

"Honey, I need," I've said to my husband, pointing across the room, "that doohicky."

Sometimes I find it near impossible to verbally express myself.
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Picture from stoshmaster at photobucket.


But give me twenty minutes with a keyboard, and I'll tell you exactly what I mean.

Know what I mean?

46 comments:

Tabitha Bird said...

Yeah, I totally know what you mean. I often think to myself, "Gosh, for a writer Tab you really lack words sometimes!"
Doohickey is a good one though :)

Capri K @ No Whining Allowed said...

It just flows better!

Heather Sunseri said...

Oh, I totally know what you mean! It's crazy how easily words escape me when I'm talking. My mind works much better when I'm pecking away. (Although not always)

Melanie Hooyenga said...

I'd rather have a doohickey on my pancake anyway.

I do that, but these days it's when I'm trying to speak Spanish.

Donna M. Kohlstrom said...

Thank God my husband understands my gestures, pauses and self created words! LOL!

But give me a keyboard the right words come flowing out! Why is that?????

Jessica Nelson said...

LOL I won't fit in this because my fuddlement seems to follow me even to the keyboard and I'll have to ask my hubby what the word is for something (trying to describe it) or I'll sit for ten minutes, searching my fuddled brain. LOL

Love that word fuddled. Did you make it up?

Wendy Paine Miller said...

Bingo. Hot diggety. You got it. I got it. We all got it on the keyboard!

Have a great weekend, Janna!
~ Wendy

Kristen Painter said...

My husband suffers from this ailment.

Joanne said...

You took the words right out of my mouth ;)

Jill said...

I completely get you. I wonder if it's because, as writers, we work through the perfect way to say something. I used to write my husband long notes all the time because it felt like the best way to communicate what I really wanted to say.

Susan R. Mills said...

Yep, I know what you mean. I think everything in my house is called a doohickey. :)

Linda Hoye said...

Oh my, yes! I communicate so much better with my fingers on my keyboard! It's often funny to hear my husband and I talk "You know what's his name", "You know that thing", "Remember that place", and the wonderful things is that we know exactly what the other one is talking about!

Melissa Amateis said...

COMPLETELY. I am such a mess sometimes when it comes to verbally saying what I mean.

Kristen Torres-Toro said...

Definitely! That's why I avoid phones at all costs. :0)

Unknown said...

Now how many times in that 20 minutes are we aloud to hit the backspace key?

Janna Leadbetter said...

I wish the spoken word had a backspace.

JLC said...

Yep! Right there with you! Its why I'd rather email than talk on the phone.

AnnotatedLA said...

I've always suffered from this. I always thought if I couldn't get the words write talking how was I ever going to be the writer I wanted to be. But I learned as a teen that writing and talking may use the same language, but they are completely separate abilities.

Writing letters was the only way I could communicate with my parents as a teen about the really important stuff without yelling and crying.

Lori said...

I can never find my words when I'm talking. My husband has a lot of fun with that because I try to compensate by gesticulating and by explaining what "that thing" actually is for 10 minutes.

septembermom said...

I do it all the time. The kids actually make fun of those "mom doesn't know what she wants to say" moments!

Jill Kemerer said...

Oh yeah! I will say "turn left" as I'm pointing right! My husband is a saint.

Also, thingy-do is a regular word in my vocab.

Have a great weekend!

Cindy R. Wilson said...

I know exactly what you mean! Whenever I'm asked to say something in public I always wish I could just write it to everyone instead because it sounds so much more eloquent.

Diane said...

You're cute! :O)

Angie Ledbetter said...

Know EXACTLY what you mean. My kids are now playing charades with me in order to communicate.

The other day I sputtered and pointed to an object I was describing outside Olive Garden, "Big, terra cotta, receptical, cigarette butts, puter-outer..." before youngest sneered and added, "Ashtray, Mom?"

Warning - it gets worse with age!

Deb said...

LOL! I had a 'conversation' with my other half last night in which I said, "You know what I mean - the thing, the thing, the thing!"

Apparently he didn't. :)

Patti Lacy said...

Yep! We've got doohickys and thing a bobbies and whats a ma call its and you knows running amuck in our home.

I LOVE this blog!

Patti

Ellie Kings said...

Oh yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I say, 'the thingy' and usually everyone knows what I mean. :)

Karen said...

Hey, I have one of those "doohickeys" too! teehee....

Amy said...

Oh my goodness, yes. And since I've hit my 40's it's gotten worse. I'll stumble half way through a sentence and my girls will finish it for me. Sad. Just sad.

Rosaria Williams said...

We multitask all the time, except when we write. At that point, all our muscles, all our functions are focusing on the message.

Jessica Nelson said...

I'm tagging you tomorrow. :-)

Diane Marie Shaw said...

Oh how true. How can I write with wisdom but when I try to speak I hear myself and wonder, "who is that talking? She should close her mouth because what she is saying sounds like gibberish."

colbymarshall said...

you're talking to the girl who used the non-word "unawkwardness" in conversation tonight. I is a REAL writer, I swears it!

Natalie said...

I'm jealous! Sometimes I can't write what I mean either :)

Adam said...

I often write the wrong banana, um word, too.

Adam

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Ah, yes. Ketchup sometimes becomes, "please pass me that red stuff." Glad I'm not the only one suffering from this malady. :)

Blessings,
Susan

Michele said...

I know exactly what you mean, Janna! It's crazy how often a writer can be at a loss for words (verbally), yet pound away for hours at the keyboard - without barely even stopping to pause!

Hugs,
Michele

Katie Ganshert said...

I think doohicky is a perfectly adequate word! I know what you mean though. Sometimes my students laugh at me because I don't know what words to say.

Spy Scribbler said...

Oh, yes, yes, yes. Just call me Ms. Doohicky Fuddle.

Nadine said...

Totally!

And when I do something like that, my husband says (with a smile) "Are you sure you're a writer?"

I retort that I'm great at the computer but not so much in the verbal aspect.

Anonymous said...

I hate when people do that!

"Give that thing, over there...."

I always want to shout back:

"WHAAAAAT!"

Yet, it happens to everyone.

WendyCinNYC said...

Yes! I know exactly what you mean, Hanna.

Angie Muresan said...

Are you sure we aren't twins??? It drives my husband and kids NUTS when I do that, which is just about always. So glad there's someone like me out there!

Joshua said...

Totally been there

Deb Shucka said...

That only gets worse with age, I'm sorry to say. I so know what you mean.

Woman in a Window said...

HA!