whatchamacallit
nounUK /ˈwɒtʃəməˌkɔːlɪt/ · US /ˈwʌt͡ʃəməˌkɔlɪt/
Etymology Univerbation and contraction of what you may call it. United States, 20th century (recorded in 1921).
1
Colloquial A metasyntactic term used for any object whose actual name the speaker does not know or cannot remember; a doodad, gizmo, thingamajig, thingy.
- The Thingamajig and the Wachamacallit.1921, Johnny Gruelle, Orphant Annie Story Book, Volume 7, page 69:
- You’re—you must be the whatchamacallit, huh? The peer.1969, J[ames] P[inckney] Miller, stage adaptation by F. Andrew Leslie, The People Next Door, New York, N.Y.: Dramatists Play Service, →OCLC, act II, page 42:
4 more examples
- JESSICA: How many times do I have to say it? We were not stealing, Officer. We were just— / MONAHAN: I know. Performing some kind of whatchamacallit deed. Anyhow, they go to the clink, that's what happens to people who filch city property.1972, Carolyn Lane, Child of Air: A One Act Play, Denver, Colo.: Pioneer Drama Service, →OCLC, page 13:
- I'm a boy, so when I'm sick, they can call in poohaghooma, Indian doctor. But not Tom Mitchell! No, sir! [We] won't have Tom Mitchell to doctor me! 'Cause whatchamacallit, he always used to doctor me …1996, Corbett Mack, as told by Michael Hittman, “Boyhood (1892–1905)”, in Corbett Mack: The Life of a Northern Paiute (Studies in the Anthropology of North American Indians), Lincoln, Neb.; London: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN, page 60:
- "Think we ought to check this whatchamacallit?" / "No, that doodad over there seems to be the problem."1998, David Alan Black, “There’s No Place Like Rome: The Parts of Speech and Their Function”, in It’s still Greek to Me: An Easy-to-understand Guide to Intermediate Greek, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, →ISBN, page 19:
- You know, he looked at everybody and everything but not me as if just by letting his eyes rest on me for a moment would let out that he and I are having a whatchamacalit.2001 [1992], Russell Heng, Lest the Demons Get to Me, revised version January 2001, via National Library Board Singapore, Act 1, page 4:
- Synonyms
- thingy
- Related terms
- whatchamacallher, whatchamacallhim