Aphasia, the inability to articulate an idea or comprehend language, is typically associated with some types of brain damage. But I experience these tip-of-the-tongue moments all the time. I suspect most of us do, though some more frequently than others. George Bush comes to mind with his "we must hit the nail right on the top of the nail." I’m sure I got the quote wrong, but I certainly know the phenomenon personally. I am just lucky enough not to have been president during those flustering aphasic moments.
The word aphasia derives from the Greek "aphatos," meaning speechless or not speakable (a + phatos). What I find interesting is that "phasia" (a form of phatos) comes from the Indo-European root "bha," which means to speak. Descended from this we get such words as infant (not speaking), preface (before speech), prophet (one who speaks before something happens), phonic (sound of speech), fable (a spoken story), and symphony (sounding together). So says my American Heritage 3rd Edition.
The television show "Cheers!" first aired September 30, 1982. It was about a bar in Boston, and its theme song reminded us that "sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name."
Long after "Cheers!" went off the air, tourists were still flocking to the Bull & Finch, the real bar that provided the visual inspiration for the fictitious one. This bar was named for Charles Bulfinch, the architect responsible for the Massachusetts State House (right up the street from the Bull & Finch) and for the U.S. Capitol building.
Meanwhile, back at the dictionary... since I was already looking up "aphasia," I decided to dig into "cheers." The Indo-European root "ker," means head. Its Greek descendent "kara" ultimately gave us the word cheer and, of course, cheers.
If you bundle these roots together, you could get
"bha-kers1," which is Bostonian for Talking Heads. Have I stopped making sense or did I just hit the nail on the ker?
1You'll have to say it out loud.