Dumbstruck Day

What the day is

Dumbstruck Day is observed on March 15. Being struck speechless is treated as a turn of phrase and is a real and fairly well described experience.

Origin and background

The word is worth unpicking first. Dumb in dumbstruck carries its older meaning of unable to speak, not its modern sense of stupid, and the drift between the two is why the older usage now sounds offensive when applied to people. Struck preserves the idea of being hit by something from outside, which is roughly how it feels.

Producing speech requires retrieving words, assembling structure and coordinating a large amount of fine motor control, all continuously and fast. Strong emotional arousal interferes with the retrieval stage in particular, which is why people under sudden shock reach for a word and find nothing there. The everyday version is the tip of the tongue state, where the meaning is fully available and the word itself will not come, and which research has shown includes partial access: people can often report the first letter or the number of syllables of a word they cannot produce.

Awe produces a related effect. Studies of awe describe a need for mental accommodation, where existing frameworks do not fit what is being perceived, and reported speechlessness is a common feature of it.

There is a reverse version too. In some situations the words arrive perfectly, several hours late, which the French call the spirit of the staircase, the retort you think of on the way out.

Silence itself is frequently the correct response. People faced with somebody else's bad news often speak in order to relieve their own discomfort, and saying nothing while staying present is generally better received.

How to take part

• Let a silence stand rather than filling it.
• Notice the tip of the tongue state and what you can retrieve about the missing word.
• Say nothing useful to someone in difficulty, and stay anyway.
• Write down the reply you thought of on the stairs.
• Retire dumb as a description of people, which the word never meant.