I know many people have experienced coming across a new word that they are unfamiliar with and looking up what it means; strangely, the word then seems to pop up in the next few days. A few explanations have been given, from just random chance to the fact that the word was often seen before but ignored and only after learning what it means does the word register in the brain and people notice it. It’s the sort of thing that Steven Pinker, one of my favourite authors, deals with in his works.
I came across what seemed like a related phenomenon a few days ago when my son asked me a question. We were planning a shopping trip and mentioned that we needed to go to B & Q, the DIY store. My ever inquisitive son asked me, Why is it called B & Q? I didn’t know and couldn’t think of any DIY related phrase so guessed that it was the initials of the founders and forgot all about it. Yesterday I was reading an excellent book, Jeremy Paxman’s The English: A Portrait of a People, and there was the answer, the store was started by Richard Bloch and David Quayle in 1969 before growing remarkably quickly as the idea of Do It Yourself took off.
So there you are, what’s the name of the first experience and is the second one related? Or have I seen the word before and it just hasn’t registered yet?
