Is there a sniglet for ...
... the realization that you have just put your hands under an old-fashioned sink -- one without a motion sensor?
This must be a relatively new situation, since sinks, toilets and paper towel dispensers with motion sensor activators have only recently become commonplace.
Oh, and if you're unfamiliar with sniglets, they are words that "don't appear in the dictionary but should." The term was coined by comedian Brad Rich Hall.
Since I get out a lot, I'm used to just putting my hands under a faucet and expecting water to come out, or waving my hand in front of a paper towel dispenser and expecting the stuff to roll out.
But there have been more than a few times when I've gone into a bathroom, stuck my hands under the sink and nothing has happened ...
Normally, it takes me a second or two to realize that it's an old-fashioned sink -- one without a motion sensor. I'm not the brightest bulb in the pack, by the way.
Is there a name for this realization?
I'd have to say, my favorite sniglet is ignasecond -- the moment you realize you have just locked your keys in your car. And what is probably the most instantly recognizable sniglet is pediddel ("A car with only one working headlight"). I always wondered where that word came from.
Something else I didn't know -- when you spot a pediddel, you're supposed to kiss the person next to you, at least, according to Sun columnist Susan Reimer. Wish I'd heard of that rule earlier. On second thought, maybe not.
Hee hee.
But I would like someone to suggest a name for the "moment of no motion sensor" realization. If someone comes up with one I really like, I'll give that person a prize.
(Sun photo by Christopher T. Assaf)
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
un-sensobility
Posted by: Light st fiend | March 31, 2009 11:56 AM
whydeheckoh, the moment you realize something doesn't happen when you expect it. As in, why the heck isn't the water running? Oh..
P.S. It was Rich Hall who created sniglets, not Brad Hall.
Posted by: brstevens | March 31, 2009 12:05 PM
I suggest Nomomo -- for No mo' motion sensor.
Posted by: Christy Fisher | March 31, 2009 12:11 PM
I'd call it a flow pas (like faux pas).
And yes, as someone already pointed it, it was Rich Hall, not Brad Hall. Sniglets got their start on the HBO program Not Necessarily The News.
Posted by: Rich B. | March 31, 2009 12:44 PM
whoops! good catch on the name, guys. fixed.
Posted by: Sam Sessa | March 31, 2009 12:55 PM
Motnot- Motion-not! (pronounced moat-not)
Posted by: mary anne | March 31, 2009 1:05 PM
Such realizations, I've heard called "Highbulb Moments" which work in tandem with "I'm not the brightest bulb in the pack"
By the way, you should avoid making such statements about yourself, not good for yourself image.
Posted by: GDA | March 31, 2009 1:33 PM
Proofreading lost to speed,
this, Highbulb Moments, should of been, LightBulb Moments.
Mea Culpa
Posted by: Anonymous | March 31, 2009 2:48 PM