Tip-Of-The-Tongue Moments Explained

It's one of the most frustrating feelings. You know the word exists, and you know what it means, but you just can't spit it out. New research suggests the forgetfulness may have to do with how frequently we use certain words.

One leading idea for what causes these annoying lapses is that when people try to think of a specific word, some other, similar-sounding word may come up in the brain and 'block' their ability to access the correct word. This mechanism is called phonological blocking.