Reverse Dictionary (1990)

Group T

Useful refernce book. ( )

Everyone has experienced the frustration of mislaying a familiar word. You know what you want to say; you know that the precise word exists that would enable you to say it; and you know that you know this word…. But when you reach for it, it's not there. That's when the pantomime of exasperation begins: you snap your fingers, you frown, you rummage about in your mental attic, you say ""it's on the tip of my tongue"" or ""What's the word --- oh, you know,"". But the word, hovering just out of reach, continues to elude and tantalize you.
Psychologies studying this phenomenon compare it to being on the brink of a sneeze. Anticipation... concentration... and --- frustration. What's needed, so to speak, is a pinch of snuff. The Reverse Dictionary provides one. It's a linguistic snuffbox, helping to release that pent-up sneeze. The relief it affords should be considerable.