Etymology Journal ยท H
Hand me that thingamabob
Meaning
- A placeholder name for an object when you cannot remember what it is called. It is the verbal equivalent of a shrug.
Casual, forgetful
Used in a sentence
- Can you hand me that thingamabob so I can tighten this screw?
- I need the thingamabob that connects the hose to the faucet.
- He was looking for the thingamabob to open the wine bottle.
The backstory
Thingamabob is a portmanteau of thing and the suffix -amabob, which has been used since the mid-1800s to create humorous, vague terms for objects. It is part of a family of words like thingamajig.
Heard in
Nationwide
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