Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon
- “it's on the tip of my tongue”
- “why can't I remember a word I know”
- “tip of the tongue explained”
- “I know the first letter but not the word”
:: COMPARE ::
Tip-of-the-tonguevsPresque vu
The short answer
Presque vu is the French label for essentially the same brink-of-retrieval feeling, but it's used more broadly — for the sense of an impending insight or realisation, not only a stuck word. Every tip-of-the-tongue state is a presque vu; not every presque vu involves a word.
Side by side
| Aspect | Tip-of-the-tongue | Presque vu |
|---|---|---|
| Target | A specific word | Any insight |
| Scope | Narrow | Broad |
| Studied since | 1966 | Sparsely |
| Feeling | Identical | Identical |
Which one you meant
Readers who land here meaning Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon rather than Presque vu are usually searching for phrases like “it's on the tip of my tongue”, “why can't I remember a word I know”, “tip of the tongue explained”.
Presque Vu
- “the answer is right there but won't come”
- “presque vu meaning”
- “almost remembering something”
- “on the verge of an idea”
Which came first
Tip-of-the-tongue. 1966 — Roger Brown and David McNeill publish the first experimental study, reading out definitions of rare words and catching participants mid-block. Their description of sufferers in 'mild torment, something like the brink of a sneeze' is still quoted.
- 1966Tip-of-the-Tongue PhenomenonRoger Brown and David McNeill publish the first experimental study, reading out definitions of rare words and catching participants mid-block. Their description of sufferers in 'mild torment, something like the brink of a sneeze' is still quoted.
- 2015Presque VuKostic, Booth and Cleary publish one of the few experimental studies to target it directly, defining it as the subjective sense of an impending insight and finding participants reported it most often after failing to identify an aphorism but before succeeding on a later attempt.
Where the confusion comes from
“Presque vu is just a fancier name for tip-of-the-tongue.”
They overlap enough that Wiktionary and Wikipedia both point from presque vu straight to tip-of-the-tongue in their see-also lists — though neither actually equates the two. Research use separates them: tip-of-the-tongue is specifically a blocked word, while presque vu is used more broadly for the sense of an approaching insight, solution or realisation, whether or not a word is involved.
Read either one in full