Wierd Behavior

March 6, 2007 10:02 PM

Anyone heard of this before? A close friend of mine frequently blurts out words such as 'cantankerous', 'ebullient', 'gubernatorial', 'quagmire', etc. Mostly actual words, but occasionally made-up ones like 'fabramblicate ' and 'fartburn'. Rarely, a word in another language. The words she utters never have anything to do with the moment. She is a musician and the words are usually somewhat melodious. She has no idea why she does it, has done it since she was in her early teens, and feels compelled to do it. Almost sounds like Tourette, but no obscenities (which begs the question, why do they 'choose' curse words?). She has no other tics or compulsive behavior that I've seen.
posted by sluglicker to human relations (28 comments total)

According to Wikipedia, "Coprolalia (the spontaneous utterance of socially objectionable or taboo words or phrases) is the most publicized symptom of Tourette's, but it is not required for a diagnosis of Tourette's."
posted by dhammond at 10:09 PM on March 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Damn, beaten to it, but yes, that's what I came to say, while obscenities make for an easy joke in Hollywood, they aren't necessary for it to be Tourette's.
posted by KirTakat at 10:12 PM on March 6, 2007

Not all Tourette's involves verbal tics, and not all verbal tics are obscene or objectionable. (Which doesn't mean your friend has Tourette's, and I am in no way qualified to suggest whether this does or doesn't sound like Tourette's.)

Is she aware she's doing it when it happens, or does she not notice it if it's not pointed out to her?
posted by spaceman_spiff at 10:13 PM on March 6, 2007

I know, Wikipedia, but the entry on tics suggests that complex vocal tics are rarely seen without accompanying simple tics. So it's probably not a tic.
posted by chrominance at 10:54 PM on March 6, 2007

I've known a couple of people with Tourette's, and neither was prone to shouting obscenities, though one of them did have echolalia as a grade-schooler (he'd repeat anything anyone said to him, and even things he himself had just said, in a quiet monotone). So, as others have said, Tourette's is a little more complex in its manifestations then the caricature presented by the media.

But really, any disorder that causes the sufferer to coin words like "fartburn" can't be all bad, right?
posted by contraption at 10:57 PM on March 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Sure sounds like the accepted upper crust version of Tourette's which is generally referred to as "voluble and eccentric."

In milder versions every upper class family would have at least some relative that would spout off "what ho"s at the least provocation or relevance.

In the lower classes one expected people to swear like a sailors so people hardly recognized spontaneous swearing for no reason might indicate a symptom.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 11:03 PM on March 6, 2007 [2 favorites]

Just as a control, I have two (close) friends with Tourette's, and both of them have gigantic profanity-laced and uncontrolled tirades of incredible profanity when they have an episode.

These days, it is well-controlled for both of them with meds but I have seen many instances of Pryor-esque breakdowns that would rip most grandma's heads off.

Which doesn't really sound like what's going on with your friend and I don't mean to derail, but while the Tourette's=uncontrolled profanity connection is by no means ubiquitous, it is real.
posted by Roach at 11:04 PM on March 6, 2007

answers.com defines glossolalia as "fabricated and nonmeaningful speech." Often used interchangeably with "speaking in tongues," the practice is not necessarily spiritually induced, and may be associated with schizophrenia.

Your friend might have a future in lexicology: fartburn is a fantastic euphemism!
posted by rob511 at 11:15 PM on March 6, 2007

Certainly sounds like some sort of tourettes/OCD tick. I used to do the same sort of thing– feeling compelled to say something nonsensical, but not really knowing why.

(I have OCD)
posted by dantekgeek at 11:20 PM on March 6, 2007

Not all Tourette's involves verbal tics

Actually, it does. You can have a "tic disorder" without verbal tics, but technically a Tourette's diagnosis requires both verbal and motor (and childhood onset) -- as Wikipedia notes. That's really all clinical semantics, because the problems and solutions are the same no matter what you call the tics. (Very sorry to be pedantic, but since I have TS and have seen that distinction made in numerous sources as well as from several doctors, I didn't want to leave that uncorrected.)

That said, the vocal tics don't all have to be coprolalia/dirty words (in fact, in something like 80-90% of cases, they aren't) -- for me, it's usually throat-clearing or other almost subvocal noises. I'm not a doctor, but from what you say, it sounds very very likely your friend has a tic -- unexplainable, compulsive, and adolescent-onset all being classic characteristics.

Of course, if it's not bothering her, there's nothing to worry about. Depending on her age, she might grow out of it, or she might not. She could probably get meds if she wanted some help controlling them, although who knows if they'd work (nothing has for me yet...) or what other problems they'd cause. But regardless, in my non-medical but somewhat-informed opinion, I'd bet on a tic.
posted by SuperNova at 11:34 PM on March 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

I've known a few people with this quirk.

It runs in the family of one fellow I knew. He himself is prone to saying "dogface" (he trained himself into using a single utterance) but he had great stories about family get togethers. In particular he had one uncle who would start saying a word (or non-word) and would keep repeating it until someone else repeated it back to him. During one of his neicess' wedding ceremony he got stuck on "squirrel", and so without missing a beat the entire wedding party, the officiant, and a good portion of attendees paused, turned directly to him, and said "SQUIRREL!"
posted by tkolar at 11:35 PM on March 6, 2007 [7 favorites]

For what it's worth, I am a musician (and a programmer and a few other things) and I get urges to do just what you describe, which I sometimes can suppress and sometimes can't.

I'll leave it to rob511 to tell you whether I'm eccentric...

Anyway, not every behaviour has (or needs) a label. I am a big believer that people are fairly variable and often things that are pathologised are things that are normal traits but much more so, if you see what I mean.

Although it's interesting and comforting, sometimes giving your thing a label isn't necessarily helpful. You have this thing that you do. You give it a name. You look up the name, and the definition is "people who do that thing", with no further explanation or cause or whatever.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:35 PM on March 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Aw, 'spleen, I don't think you're eccentric, I think you're jus—

"EBULLIENT!!"
posted by rob511 at 11:43 PM on March 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Thanks for the corrections zadcat and puddleglum. No more begging and i before e except after c...and w (with the exception of wield and wiener). Let's forget about my original question. This is much more interesting.

Thanks i_am_joe's_spleen. Sounds about right. I've heard her say 'vb null string' and 'iostream' and I look at her and say "What?" She just shrugs.
posted by sluglicker at 11:53 PM on March 6, 2007

Sometimes words sound so utterly fantastic they need to be said out loud.
Cantankerous is lovely, and gubernatorial is hilarious. If I came up with the word "fartburn" I'd have to say it out loud, too.
Since she's a musician, she probably just likes the sound and blurts out the word without a second thought.

I like to say "truck".
posted by idiotfactory at 12:00 AM on March 7, 2007

Are you sure this is a problem? It sounds kinda endearing.
posted by Afroblanco at 12:22 AM on March 7, 2007

Are you sure this is a problem? It sounds kinda endearing.

Most of the time it is, I admit. I seriously thought of asking her to marry me once. Then we slept together. I hear...

...concomitant!...capitulate!!...ignominious!!!!!

Very disturbing.
posted by sluglicker at 1:15 AM on March 7, 2007 [6 favorites]

When she says something in another language, does she know what the word means, or is it a speaking-in-tongues kind of thing? I've no opinion, just curiosity.
posted by corvine at 4:19 AM on March 7, 2007

Have you two considered blogging the made-up words? I would subscribe to that in a heartbeat.
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:21 AM on March 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

Fartburn. (färt'bûrn')
1. (n.) A condition caused by excessive farting.

Fabramblicate. (făb-răm'blĭ-kăt)
1. (v.) The act of incessantly lying during a lecture about "facts", until one forgets what they've previously lied about and contradicts oneself.

So compelling were these made up words that I had little choice but to look them up.
posted by econous at 6:12 AM on March 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

I totally do this, sometimes not just saying the words but singing little tunes about them.

Between this and my hand-flapping, I probably have some sort of "problem", but it's not a problem and nobody really seems to care too much, so...eh.
posted by nekton at 9:02 AM on March 7, 2007

This is really interesting; I occasionally get a word or name stuck in my head the same way I get a song stuck in my head. I never have the urge to say it out loud, but it will pop into my conscious thought randomly, and after a few days it goes away. Off the top of my head, I remember years ago spending a few days with Hieronymus Bosch, and more recently picked up the French town of Ouistreham after looking at a map of Normandy. It seems that certain words I read get stuck in my brain like a sort of mental hiccup.
posted by Raven13 at 9:05 AM on March 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

I was doing the same thing, econous:

Fabramblicate-- to make it all up as you go along

Fartburn-- what a person feels when, instead of going down and out, they go up and in; thankfully, a rather rare condition.

Sluglicker, if you thought that was disturbing (I am a little disappointed in you, young man), you probably really don't want to be there when she goes into labor, so it may be all for the best, after all.
posted by jamjam at 9:11 AM on March 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

Is she familiar with computer programming languages? Because

'vb null string' and 'iostream'

actually do mean something in that domain.
posted by speedo at 9:16 AM on March 7, 2007

I just came across this Wikipedia entry on thought disorder. See word approximations, stilted speech.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 1:13 PM on March 7, 2007

I used the word doofosity* in a sentence today. Perhaps she and I are related.







*The act of being a doofus.
posted by 4ster at 1:42 PM on March 7, 2007

Just to add another data point, I do this sometimes, especially when I'm tired or wired. I'm a musician/composer. I love thinking about the way words sound. I especially love words that sound like what they mean. Like the lazy concatenation of the "s" and "h" in "disheveled," for example.

I don't do it during sex, though. Are you being serious about that? That's more than a little weird. Have you asked her about this habit or is it a sensitive topic? This seems like one of those questions where you're in a better position to find out what's up than random dudes on the innanet.
posted by speicus at 3:41 PM on March 7, 2007

In one of the Oliver Sacks books, there's a chapter about a guy who does this, and both he and his son 'collect' words which are incredibly pleasing to say so that he can use and enjoy them. I don't recall which book, but it might well be The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat.

I remember thinking I should find out where this guy was and send him the name of the Sri Lankan anthropologist, Gananath Obeyesekere (Obee-a-say-ka-rer) because it was so much fun to say.
posted by penguin pie at 8:46 AM on March 18, 2007