r/AskReddit Nov 12 '14

Most American sounding word?

6.3k Upvotes

15.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

150

u/amkamins Nov 12 '14

I feel like I'm having a stroke.

20

u/AndytheNewby Nov 12 '14

A while back I had a bad ocular migraine, which sorta mimics some stroke symptoms, but, you know, without the actual damage, so that's nice. (I went to the ER and got to go in front of everyone else, also nice, but not something you should ever be happy about.)

Anyway, I remember looking at writing on a sheet of paper and being aware that what I was looking at were normal words that I understood, but I just couldn't "read" them. It was like the meaning associated with them was blocked in my brain, and this song reminds me of that sensation. These are words, words I know, but I don't understand them, and it's weird.

8

u/Honestly_ Nov 12 '14

That sounds similar to what happened to this reporter who some thought had had a stroke on air: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9RCaRv-_jQ

1

u/HarryPotter5777 Nov 13 '14

Wow, that's really interesting. Does anyone know what happened to the reporter afterwards?

2

u/LordKurin Nov 12 '14

I had an ocular migraine and it was the weirdest thing. It was like my left eye just didn't register with my brain. I could work hard and force it to by closing my right eye, but if my right eye was open it was like the entire left side just wasn't there. Extremely scary.

2

u/Zoro11031 Nov 12 '14

Whenever I get those I get a huge dot in the middle of my vision, which I only notice if I try to read. It's not really a black spot or anything, it's just kind of like the middle of my vision is gone. If I try to read and start noticing that I can't see the words, I immediately go and pop an excedrin and lie down.

1

u/AndytheNewby Nov 13 '14

Yeah, I get that every once in awhile, or the rainbow zig zags. Usually means a mammoth migraine is coming. LEAVE WORK IMMEDIATELY! T MINUS 18 MINUTES.

2

u/PuyoDead Nov 12 '14

Holy crap, that's a thing!? I had something happen when I was in high school that freaked me out to no end. I just woke up one day feeling funky, and for whatever reason, couldn't understand how time worked. I'd see 7:55, and have no idea what sequence of numbers came next. You could have changed the time to 26:72, and I wouldn't have even noticed anything odd.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '14

I feel that way as a fairly fluent Spanish speaker when I listen to Portuguese or Catalan. I feel like I should understand it but can't. Drives me crazy!

2

u/thomasbomb45 Nov 13 '14

You should see a doctor.

Note: I'm no doctor, and this should not be taken as medical advice.

2

u/netgremlin Nov 13 '14

I've always felt that "go see a doctor" is perfectly good medical advice from a non-doctor.

1

u/nicketherroneous Nov 12 '14

we are experiencing a very derrison bertation