Word of the Day:
Gedankenexperiment
PRONUNCIATION:
(guh-DAHNG-kuhn-ik-SPER-uh-muhnt)
MEANING:
noun: A thought experiment: an experiment carried out in imagination only.
ETYMOLOGY:
From German Gedanke (thought) + Experiment (experiment). Earliest documented use: 1913.
USAGE:
I watched a TSA officer confiscate my father’s aftershave at the airport … Feeling curiouser, I did a gedankenexperiment: What if the bottle had been completely empty — would he have taken it then?”
Steve Mirsky; Not a Close Shave; Scientific American (Washington, DC); Jan 30, 2009.
Steve Mirsky; Not a Close Shave; Scientific American (Washington, DC); Jan 30, 2009.
So, there’s actually a word for what I do. Which means there must be others who do this too. A lot of others – or else they wouldn’t have created a word, right?
That’s really good news!
I thought I had an affliction!
word from Wordsmith.org’s – A.Word.A.Day