What Is That Thing Called?

[00:00.00]It has happened to all of us.#
我们所有人都遇到过这种事。#

[00:02.56]You want to talk about an object, but you forgot the name of it.#
你想要谈论某种物体，却忘了它的名称。#

[00:08.06]Or you never knew the name at all.#
或者你根本不知道它的名称。#

[00:11.36]Maybe you are not even sure there is a word for it.#
也许你甚至不确定它有没有名称。#

[00:16.02]For example, that thing that you need to fix your bicycle.#
例如你修理自行车需要用到的工具。#

[00:21.23]Or perhaps it is something you need for your computer.#
或者用于电脑的什么东西。#

[00:25.34]Or that part on your motorcycle that never, ever seems to work.#
或者你摩托车上似乎从未有用的零件。#

[00:30.78]What are these things?#
这些都是什么东西？#

[00:32.94]They are called “doohickies.”#
它们被称之为doohickies。#

[00:35.81]A doohickey is a word you use when you do not know, or you have forgotten, the real name of an object.#
当你不知道，或忘记了某种物体的真实名称，就能用到doohickey这个单词。#

[00:44.52]The MacMillan Dictionary defines doohickey as “something such as a small object or tool that you cannot remember the name of.”#
麦克米伦字典定义doohickey为“一些你想不起名字的小物体或工具。”#

[00:55.60]The American Heritage Dictionary says it is “something, especially a small device or part, whose name is unknown or forgotten.#
“美国传统词典称它是“不知道或忘记名称的物体，尤其是指小设备或部件。”#

[01:07.42]Language experts say the word first started being used in the United States in the early 1900s.#
语言专家表示，这个单词最初见于20世纪早期的美国。#

[01:16.14]But other experts say they have seen examples of words like these in writings from the middle 1800s.#
但是另一些专家表示，他们在19世纪中期的一些著作中发现了类似这种单词的例子。#

[01:25.20]The Merriam-Webster Dictionary for Learners of American English gives this example of how native speakers might use doohickey:#
面向美式英语学习者的韦氏词典提供了母语人士如何使用doohickey的例子：#

[01:35.76]”I need one of those doohickeys, you know, with the long handle.”#
“我需要一件那种小东西，你知道的，长手柄的那种。”#

[01:40.65]Merriam-Webster adds that doohickey may be a combination of two other words: “doodad” and “hickey.”#
韦氏词典补充说，doohickey可能是doodad和hickey这两个单词的结合体。#

[01:49.53]Strange as it may be, both of these words mean the same as doohickey.#
奇怪的是，这些单词都和doohickey一个意思。#

[01:55.04]The dictionary lists a lot of strange words as synonyms for doohickey.#
这本词典列出很多和doohickey是同义词的奇怪单词。#

[02:00.89]The most common are whatchamacallit, whatnot and whatsit.#
最常见的whatchamacallit（叫什么来着，用于想不起名称时）， whatnot（某种东西）和whatsit（某某玩意）。#

[02:06.82]You will probably never see these words in official documents or newspaper reports.#
在官方文件和报纸报道上你可能永远看不到这些单词。#

[02:13.32]But you might hear them in informal American English, when people are talking to each other.#
但是在人们互相交谈时你可能会听到这种非正式美语。