Semantic Satiation
A term you didn't know you needed
I used to be the only person I knew who knew this term…until Ted Lasso came along and ruined that for me. Of course I forgive the good ol fella…how can you not? (By the way, did you know his coaching character was based on Jim Harbaugh? Go blue!)
But for those who haven’t seen the show (go watch it!) or perhaps don’t remember the semantic satiation scene—I’d like to acquaint you with one of my favorite terms and concepts.
Chances are this has happened to you at some point, whether you knew it or not. A funny little glitch of the human condition that you may even experience while reading this:
Semantic satiation: When you look at, say, think, or write a familiar term repeatedly enough that it loses its meaning and starts seeming alien and bizarre. Easily applied to anyone’s name.
Semantic = meaning + Satiate = have enough; make unable to take more in.
See also; meta semantic satiation: When you get semantic satiation about the term “semantic satiation” (or semantic satiation about the term “meta”) which can send you into a semantic satiation spiral—where serious meaning is lost, and even the dots of i’s begin drifting unpinned to prickle your eyes with nonsense marks on a screen…slipping into a semantic satiation saturation situation.
Sorry for that…anyway, enjoy knowing this delicious term for something you’ve probably experienced and wondered about. Like the song says: knowing is half the battle.
What’s the evolutionary reason for semantic satiation?
As a complete non-scientist who views everything through a quillful lens, I reckon it’s the same mechanism that triggers writer’s block.
Thought is patterns of electricity running through meat circuitry…and too much current focused on one neural pathway can burn mental ruts that you can’t easily get out of—so the brain reroutes the signal to protect itself, to make sure the rest of the world can still slip in.
Or possibly semantic satiation is just a silly side-effect of conscious cognition…
Either way, the cure for semantic satiation is the same as for writer’s block: Go think about something else for awhile.