What do you call a thing that you temporarily cannot remember the name of in American English? Lets suppose the following scenario. What would you use to fill in the blank?
Give me that. . . umm. . . you say its name. . . shoot. . . I cannot remember its name. . . __________.
a) widget
b) gadget
c) thingy
d) thing magic
Is there any other common choice for this concept in AmE? I need to know the most common one.
Best Answer
I don't know that there is a MOST common one. There are several in common usage, and I suspect different regions of the country use different ones. Where I live, you'd most likely hear:
I've never heard "thing magic" before. Gadget and widget are used, but I think they are more specific. Gadget would be used for a small machine or toy. It can also be used to describe a collection of little tools, like "I have a whole drawer of kitchen gadgets", that you know the names of, but don't want to list. A widget would usually be used to refer to a piece that is used to build something. Again, I think it is more likely to be used when you don't want to bother naming the thing, or want to talk about pieces of something in general terms.