Thingamajiggers

Greetings, Earthlings.

I'm Venus Verbaceous from the planet Venus. I specialize in spaced out verbiage. I am fascinated with the Terran languages, especially the one you call English.

Humans have an incredible vocabulary when it comes to naming inanimate objects. Currently I am bemused by your race's propensity for making up names when you don't know what an object is.

I dohickey. Do you? No, I'm not referring to that art form of branding you leave on your significant other's neck!

You see them, you feel them, and you know they are there, but what are they? Some of them are everyday objects and yet, you don't what they are called. To save face, you have invented words to describe them. How many times have you picked up an object and asked, "What's this dohickey?" Or "What do you call this doodad?"

Haven't you ever wondered what name is used for that loop on the front of a belt that secures the tip? What are those button thingamabobs that a telephone receiver rests on? Whatchamacallit that slender bone that separates the nostrils? What is that leafy thingamajig from maple trees that spins like a helicopter?

You've come to the right place to find the answers to those perplexing questions and more! After reading this, you too will be able to proudly say, "I dohickey. Do You?"

OBJECTS

1. the loop on the front of a belt that secures the tip: ~ keeper
2. the two buttons on which a telephone receiver rests: ~ plungers
3. leafy seed pods from a maple tree that spin like a helicopter" ~ Schizocarps
4. ornamental piece that screws to top of a lamp holding shade in place; also the shaft atop an umbrella: ~ ferrule
5. the wire handle of a bucket: ~ bail
6. the plastic tip of a shoelace: ~ aglet
7. an open-sided box in which a book is kept: ~ forel
8. decorative metal plate around a keyhole, drawer pull, or doorknob: ~ escutcheon
9. the rim of a barrel: ~ chimb
10. vertical post that runs through a door hinge: ~ pintle
11. circular wax-catcher that fits over a candle: ~ bobeche
12. holder for a paper cone-shaped coffee cup; also the cup holder in a vehicle: ~ zarf
13. the frames for holding window panes: ~ muntins

BODY PARTS

1. the thin bone that separates the nostrils: ~vomer
2. the thin muscle under the tongue: ~ frenulum
3. the wax that accumulates in your ear: ~ cerumen
4. the hollow area at the back of the knee: ~popliteal
5. the point at either end of each eye where the upper and lower lids meet: ~ canthus
6. the back of the hand, opposite the palm : ~ opisthenar
7. the fleshy pad just below the thumb: ~ tragus

Since there so many things you might come across that you don't know what they are called, it holds true that there should be a lot of words that you can use as substitute names. Including those already used above, here is a list of no less than 30 that were found in your planet's Roget's Thesaurus :

dingus, dofunny, dohickey, dojigger, dojiggy, domajig, domajigger, doodad, doowhackey, flumadiddle, gigamaree, gimmick, gizmo, hickey, hootenanny, hootamalalie, jigger, such-and-such, thingum, thingumabob, thingamabob, thingamadoddle, thingamajig, thingamajigger, thingammaree, thingammy, whatchy, whatchamacallit, whatzit, and widget.

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