Do you ever suddenly realize a word you use every single day just suddenly sounds really weird and foreign? That just happened to me with the word "smart." If I didn't know what it was, I might think it was a made-up word for when smurfs eat sunchokes.
I wondered if there was a name the experience of words suddenly sounding strange. Turns our there is - "semantic satiation."
What is semantic satiation?
Semantic satiation is the name of a psychological phenomenon wherein the repetition of a word, whether it’s visual or oral, causes it to lose its meaning for the viewer/listener, and makes it seem like it’s just a meaningless sound. Historically, the term ‘semantic satiation’ has been used to refer to the subjective loss of meaning that comes as a result of prolonged exposure to a word.
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What words have you bumped up against that suddenly sound strange and unfamiliar?