@saraWhat's the German word for that thing where you're trying to remember how to say something in a language you're not fluent in, and your brain starts rapid-firing all the *other* language snippets it has on file, just in case those help
related: how I'm only fluent in the language I spoke as a kid during the first 2-3 days of visiting any non-English-speaking country. Brain is like THIS IS ALL WE GOT, GOOD LUCK
Matthew Martin@sara Chatgpt says "The German word for the phenomenon you described is "Sprachsalat" or "Sprachverwirrung." Both terms refer to a state of language confusion or mixing, where different language fragments or words from various languages get jumbled together in one's mind."
I think it sounds delicious.
@sara Hold on, the correct word is "Sprachverwirrungsvergesslichkeits-Schnellfeuerabfrage"
Keith Jenkins@sara la palabra mauvaise
Ethan Blanton@sara I find that my brain reaches for the equivalent word in whatever non-native language I have used most recently, and then that's all it can find again. (I.e.; I am native in English, and speak Russian and Japanese with some facility (nothing like fluent, but can get around in public if you give me time). If I have been speaking Russian recently, and I want a word in Japanese, if I remember the Russian word first it's game over, now that word is Russian until enough time passes to reset.)