Happy Mother's Day, all you wonderful women you. I got texting for mother's day so at last my friends can stop accusing me of being a Luddite. We spent yesterday declaring mighty war on our morning glory/bindweed, and now I have tomatoes, zucchini, melons, and peppers in play.
My five year old asked me, "What do you call it when you need to sneeze but you can't?" An excellent question, I thought, and as a seasonal allergy sufferer, a very pertinent one. A shame there isn't a term for said condition. Any suggestions?
Alas, nothing that comes to mind. You should ask Max though, I'm sure he can think of something very clever. And then you can put it in for a real word in the dictionary. I think we're missing and important piece of verbiage here!
Posted by: Heather Z. | May 10, 2009 at 08:43 PM
Er...needing-to-sneeze-itis? Happy Mother's Day, Shannon.
Posted by: Maya | May 10, 2009 at 09:09 PM
Presternutatosis
Pre=before
Sternutation=sneezing
Osis=the condition of
(I am sure this is not the real condition's name, I made it up. But all of the segments are right)
Posted by: Kristie P. | May 10, 2009 at 09:27 PM
Annoying. When you can't sneeze and you really need to, it's called annoying. LOL
Posted by: Katie-wa | May 10, 2009 at 09:39 PM
How about 'snizzle'? Not quite a sneeze but it itches and makes your nose do that scrunchy thing. (Snitchy sounded to wierd.)
Happy Mothers day!
Posted by: Debbie | May 10, 2009 at 10:15 PM
I like 'snizzle'.
Posted by: Q | May 11, 2009 at 05:52 AM
How about a sneeze freeze? Or a snort abort?
Posted by: Fleur | May 11, 2009 at 06:07 AM
I call it Asparagus, because I once heard somewhere that if you say "aspaparagus" really forcefully, then you won't have to sneeze. So, whenever I say Asparagus, all of my friends know exactly what I mean.
Posted by: Enna Isilee | May 11, 2009 at 06:09 AM
You can't see it right now, but I'm doing the 'Happy Mother's Day' dance...yeah, I have awesome skills. lol :O) Hummm, I call it sifgbobuyeubyheuovb. B/c that's really something your saying...or your speaking some new-found language yet to be found in Norther Russia. Yeahhh, I think that it. :O)
Happy Mother's Day!
-rachel:O)
Posted by: Rachel | May 11, 2009 at 06:21 AM
I like 'Snizzle' and 'Sneeze Freeze' :)
I'm gonna use those now. Smart people.
Posted by: Chelsea | May 11, 2009 at 08:10 AM
how about a sneeze-on-pause? or a sneeze-in-waiting?
snizzle is good, but i think saying my nose is snitchy would better show how it feels: more than an itch, on its way to a sneeze ;-)
Posted by: scatterbeams | May 11, 2009 at 10:04 AM
Hehe. 'Sneeze-in-waiting' makes it sound almost royal!
I generally say my nose is "itchy" or "scrunchy."
Posted by: annie | May 11, 2009 at 11:03 AM
I always think of them as "stalled sneezes" since they're just as frustrating as when your car almost starts, and then doesn't.
But that's just me.
Staring at the sun usually helps jumpstart the sneeze, if you're desperate.
Posted by: Shannon M. | May 11, 2009 at 11:17 AM
I think Max should proclaim the name of the condition. And I think people should use it until it catches on. And I think that one day the world will look back, and the world will know, Shannon Hale, a genius, gave birth to a genius, and that genius is Max. And that genius named the unamed. :)
Posted by: Rachel Danielle | May 11, 2009 at 01:22 PM
Oh, and a late happy mother's day to you Shannon, and all of the other mothers out there!
Posted by: Rachel Danielle | May 11, 2009 at 01:29 PM
un-choo
(like "achoo")
Thanks for the post!
Posted by: Avery and the delicious Posie Nubbins | May 11, 2009 at 01:37 PM
(Belated) Happy Mother's Day to everyone! I was just in a class yesterday where we were talking about this. Though, alas, I have no ideas for the new name, I did hear that looking at a light will help you either sneeze or stop needing to sneeze. As a sufferer of spring allergies, that was very helpful to me.
Posted by: editor.girl | May 11, 2009 at 01:59 PM
a snitch? i think max should name it, too.
happy mothers day!
Posted by: Aurora Faerie | May 11, 2009 at 08:23 PM
or a sneetch!
Posted by: Aurora Faerie | May 11, 2009 at 08:25 PM
gatchoo, because it's gatchoo wanting to sneeze so badly. Good luck on your garden! I go baby-talk to my widdo plants regularly.
Posted by: Jen | May 11, 2009 at 09:57 PM
Haha I love Rachel Danielle's post.
Posted by: Chelsea | May 12, 2009 at 12:34 PM
Dang, as soon as i read your post, i sneezed! 1 vote for snizzle! :)
Posted by: kitty | May 12, 2009 at 03:05 PM
I agree with Kristie P. Presternutatosis is an awesome word for it!
Presternutatosis=not being able to sneeze when you are in dsperate need of a sneeze
Snizzle is cool too!
Happy Mother's Day! I know I'm late, but I'll say it anyway.
Julie Lynne
Posted by: Julie Lynne | May 12, 2009 at 03:31 PM
a snee! the sneeze hasn't happened so you can't say the whole thing. haha. and question shannon?? When is Forest Born coming out??? has it already? I am really confused and i really need to know!!! I need to buy it! :) thanks so much
-Shayla
Posted by: Shayla S. | May 12, 2009 at 05:35 PM
Forest Born is coming out in the fall, and hmmmm...
The Snee Curse.
Hahahaha... That'd make an awesome book tital!!
Posted by: Kiera | May 12, 2009 at 06:51 PM
No-choo. It makes sense ('a'- choo) Get it? I do like snizzle though.
Posted by: Emma H. | May 12, 2009 at 06:55 PM
Snizzle would be perfect if Snoop Dogg hadn't ruined it by using it as a g-rated substitute for a bad word (which I will not mention here).
Or was that shizzle?
Either way, I vote for snitchy
Posted by: Shannon | May 12, 2009 at 11:00 PM
These are all great!
Posted by: shannon hale | May 13, 2009 at 07:38 AM
How about "cow-choo"? That's the best I could come up with, because I've heard that if you repeat "cow, cow, cow, cow, cow" over and over to someone who feels the need to sneeze, it helps to speak of the bovine creature. ;) I tried it once on my mom when she was trying to get a sneeze out, and it worked! :D
Posted by: bookbutterfly | May 13, 2009 at 04:03 PM
well, what my family has always called it is simply DANG IT! the sneeze WONT come out! Helpful? I doubt it, but it makes you feel better to yell it when you are experiencing that particular problem.
Posted by: Anya | May 13, 2009 at 04:36 PM
Forest Born comes out September 1st I believe. DYING FOR IT!!
Posted by: Chelsea | May 14, 2009 at 08:36 AM
i dont know what name it could be called but it always happens to me!it is soo annoying!i call a sneeze with out the achoo!
Posted by: Sara Weiss | May 19, 2009 at 04:13 PM
I would call it an anti-sneeze. It's on the (dark side).
Posted by: LaurenDaisy | June 19, 2009 at 06:10 PM