Referencing by association
From a talk I attended recently (slightly paraphrased, I was slow off the mark writing the quote down):
Orson Welles, > Brave New World, anybody read that > book? They have a ministry redefining language so that people can’t talk about political > concepts like going to war.
I was slow off the mark because I was having difficulty remembering the author of the book the speaker really meant. Try it now. Just on the tip of your tongue, isn’t it? But somehow Orson Welles keeps getting in the way… You can kick yourself now. Funny how the similarity blocks remembering the right name so powerfully.
Comments
Heh. Clouds, silver linings, &c.
Well, it worked for me, but whenever I try to repeat the experiment, people immediately say: ``No, you meant George Orwell, didn't you?'' And then I feel quite stupid explaining how it should have worked... However, these explanations and my sad face make people laugh, so maybe after all the experiments were not without value. (-;
Since I happen to be reading it at the moment, and since it's apropos: from _Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell_
> "Why! [said Drawlight,] there was a fellow
> called Drummond, who saw her at Christmas at a
> private ball in Leamington Spa, and wagered Lord
> Carlisle fifty pounds that she would be dead
> within a month."
>
> Mr Lascelles tutted in annoyance and put down
> his newspaper. "No, no," he said, "that was not
> Miss Wintertowne. You are thinking of Miss
> Hookham-Nix, whose brother has threatened to
> shoot her, should she bring disgrace upon the
> family --- which everyone supposed she must do
> sooner or later. But it happened at Worthing ---
> and it was not Lord Carlisle who took the bet
> but the Duke of Exmoor."
Yup. Only the book he is thinking of is [1984](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspeak).
Only it was Huxley who wrote brave new world.