Thingumbobs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small gadget or device whose proper name someone cannot recall ; a person whose name has slipped from memory or is not known
2. An object or contraption one cannot name at the moment ; someone whose name escapes the speaker or is unknown to them
3. A thing of unspecified kind, often a gizmo, that goes unnamed ; a individual whose identity the speaker has forgotten or never learned

Etymology: "Thingumbobs" is simply the plural of "thingumbob," a noun for an unnamed small device or gadget, the kind of object whose proper name has slipped your mind or is not worth recalling. The singular is itself a playful elaboration of "thingummy," a much older informal substitute for a name that the speaker cannot retrieve, and "-bob" was added as a rhyming, bouncy ending typical of such nonsense-coinages. Because the word is a regular plural, its story is that of the singular. Its value lies in the way English speakers reach for a sound-pattern when the precise noun is missing, rather than in any Latin or Greek lineage.

Synonyms: thingamajig, thingamabob, whatsit, doodad, gadget