Whatchamacallit and Other Funny Ways to Name Things in English

Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English with Jennifer. You'd think that

an English teacher would have a name for everything.

Right? But I don't. In fact, some things are really hard to call by a particular

name. Like this thing. I found this

in a box of utensils that my grandmother set aside for me.

I think it's to open lids, but the funny thing is I've never used it.

Instead I use a technique that my grandmother taught me.

Let me show you. So, if I can't open a lid, my grandmother taught me to use either a

rubber glove or a hard object. And you hit around the

lid, and it becomes easier to twist open.

Well, I guess you could call this a can opener, but it's a very strange-looking

one. When we don't know what to call

something, we might use a funny nonsense word, like

thingamajig. What's that thingamajig? Can you hand me that thingamajig over

there? Try saying it: thingamajig.

Thingamajig.

There are variations: thingamajiggy,

thingamajigger.

I need a thingamajigger. You mean a screwdriver?

Yeah. Sometimes we use these funny nonsense words not just for things we

can't name, but things that we've forgotten the name for.

A similar word is "thingamabob." Try saying that one: thingamabob.

Thingamabob. There's a bunch of thingamabobs in the drawer.

It happens. Right? Sometimes we knew a word at one point, but we can't remember

it now. For example, how do I charge this dog collar?

It's a light up collar. Well, you take this thingamajiggy,

and you put it in this doohickey here. And then this goes into the

whatchamacallit, like that, and you put it in the socket.

Get it?

"Doohickey" usually refers to something small.

Say that with me: doohickey. An alternative word is "doodad."

Say that one: doodad.

A really common word for something we can't name is "whatchamacallit."

You can tell we put a few words together. What do you call it? Whatchamacallit.

This can be spelled and said different ways.

Whatchamacallit. Say it. Whatchamacallit. Note that all these words are usually

spoken not written.

One more alternative is to use "thingy" and add some description to that.

What's that orange thingy in the middle? What do you use it for?

What's that toothbrush-like thingy with the orange handle?

What's the S-thingy for? Is that a hook?

Some people avoid all these silly words and just use:

that, those, stuff, and thing, What's that stuff around the

corn? It's like string. What's that around the

corn? What are those things around the corn?

Or you can use a combination of a silly word and an adjective clause.

The whaddyacallit is broken. That thing that holds the necklace together.

Your turn. Ask me questions about these photos if you don't know the name of

something. But let me warn you that I may not know the answer.

That's all for now. I hope this was interesting and useful.

Please like the video. As always, thanks for watching

and happy studies!

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