Well, the Germans would say...

December 22, 2006 6:25 PM

Is there an English word for the feeling one gets while seeing a familiar possession in an alien environment?

For example, last week I spotted the twin of a flowerpot I'd bought at a rummage sale in eighth grade. It's a peculiar feeling combining the sense of a lack of originality and a sort of "wrongness" in seeing something in a place it doesn't belong.

Can we invent a word if there isn't one?

posted by lauranesson to writing & language (22 comments total)

"Incongruous" might fit your description...

Incongruous: seeming strange or ludicrous through being out of place or unexpected (source: Encarta)
posted by amyms at 6:29 PM on December 22, 2006

Reminiscence
posted by artdrectr at 6:35 PM on December 22, 2006

errrmmm

*inventing*

familiarity dissonance?
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 7:08 PM on December 22, 2006

I like "incongruous," but for some reason I want it to have more of the "but that's mine!" feeling incorporated.

"Dissonance" is heading in a good direction.
posted by lauranesson at 7:33 PM on December 22, 2006

I propose d'ailleurs vu.
posted by interrobang at 7:53 PM on December 22, 2006 [2 favorites has favorites]

recognition dissonance?
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 9:27 PM on December 22, 2006

Just for the record, I like dirtynumbandelboy's suggestions (insert thumbs-up here).
posted by amyms at 10:04 PM on December 22, 2006

dirtynumbangelboy's*
posted by amyms at 10:05 PM on December 22, 2006

discontinuity
posted by frogan at 10:23 PM on December 22, 2006

OK, it's not reminiscence.
Re-reading the question...

Disreminiscence!
Yeah, that's the ticket.
posted by artdrectr at 11:17 PM on December 22, 2006

okay, I am not quite sure if what you are asking about is the meaning of the term you described in your tag but Verfremdungseffekt can mean different things but I'd describe it first and foremost as alienation effect, distancing effect or estrangement effect.

I realize you asked for one word but keep in mind that german works slightly different. while it is perfectly acceptable to combine two words (Verfremdung + Effekt = Verfremdungseffekt), the same cannot be done in english as easily. we prefer keeping words below 24 characters and thus align multiple behind each other.

Disreminiscence
wow. I couldn't find that in wikipedia or m-w. care to explain that one to me?

btw: we're now two art directors in one thread. three makes a sit-in.
posted by krautland at 11:58 PM on December 22, 2006

argh. someone give me an edit function. my sentences are germanically long.

there is some show on npr where people can call in and suggest new words to be included in the dictionary. I see an opening here.
posted by krautland at 12:00 AM on December 23, 2006

Dis- (meaning apart, reversal or removal).
Reminiscence (tending to bring some memory to mind).
= Disreminiscence (the incongruity of a memory)

I made it up. I like the way it sounds. Artistic license 'n all.

(sigh) dirtynumbgargleboy has it way over me.
posted by artdrectr at 1:03 AM on December 23, 2006

Cognitive Dissonance?
posted by Coaticass at 7:11 AM on December 23, 2006

Or incongruity?
posted by Coaticass at 7:17 AM on December 23, 2006

uniqueness fallacy collapse?
("i thought i was the only one who understood / controlled
the context of that item. 'fraid not.")
posted by twistofrhyme at 9:58 AM on December 23, 2006

Perhaps not exactly what you meant...but in that situation I'd say "deja vu". If it was more positive (e.g., seeing snack food I only eat on vacation in Mexico at a local convenience store) I'd say nostalgia.
posted by sarahkeebs at 11:25 AM on December 23, 2006

Note the amusing contemporary antonym to déja-vu: vujade.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:41 AM on December 23, 2006

Cognitive dissonance isn't exactly right, because that's a incongruity between thoughts or states of thinking. I was thinking derealization, which is a feeling that things around you have changed somehow or are unfamiliar and you don't know why, but that's not quite right either. I'd vote for just plain dissonance.
posted by forensicphd at 12:10 PM on December 23, 2006

Discombobulated.
posted by Coaticass at 3:06 PM on December 23, 2006

disoriented
(also, a one-word description of the flowerpot in your example: heterotopic)
posted by rob511 at 3:07 PM on December 23, 2006

How 'bout recognitive dissonance?
posted by Alt F4 at 7:12 PM on December 25, 2006