This may have been posted here before, sorry if that's the case.
Some time back, the magazine Atlantic had a column, the purpose of which was to provide a name for an everyday situation that most are familiar with, but which usually goes unnamed. The answers were usually humorous, involved puns/wordplay, etc. (Unfortunately, they stopped running the column.)
As an example, two people are walking down a narrow hallway. As they get nearer, both realize they are headed straight towards each other, so they adjust their respective paths. Person A steps to his right. At the same time, Person B steps to his left. Both are chagrinned to see they are still in each other's way. Awkward smile, embarassed laugh, they both adjust only to repeat the situation several times. Most people have experienced this, but there is, as far as I know, no name for it. (One reader suggested calling it the Ah Void Dance.)
Second situation involves walking on the sidewalk in a large, metro area. There are tourists in front of you who, because they are tourists, will stop and point at landmarks, take pictures, walk slower than the rest of the flow and in general impede the rest of the sidewalk traffic. What would be a good name for these tourists? (One I particularly liked was Speed Bumpkins.)
Other unnamed situations? Names for the above situations?
The book, "The Meaning of Liff", uses odd town names to describe many such phenomena. For example, an old man who fishes around in litter bins and mumbles to himself, is a Theakstone.
My favorite awkward scenario is seeing a stranger waving at you. You wave back only to realize that the person was waving at someone who was behind you. I have the scenario, but not the term. Any takers on naming it?
i do not know the answer to any of the above, but i know that according to Rose Nyland from the Golden Girls, the exact precise moment when old dog poo turns white is called Gerkonanaken.
many thanks.
Sorry, I don't have names for either, but in situation #1. I always grin and say "Just once more, then I've really got to go".
#2 There is also a similar one when someone next to you says "hi" and you say it back only to find out they are talking on the phone.
I have been amusing myself rummaging around the main LP website, and found this: 30 travel terms that don’t exist but should. I
Something similar I posted four years ago. I remember it because I was quite taken with the first suggestion.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1544047
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