“Exoriar(e) aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor!”
“It is too stupid to forget such a word,” he said. “By the way, I understand you claim that forgetting is not without its reasons; I should be very curious to find out how I came to forget this indefinite pronoun ‘aliquis.’”
I gladly accepted the challenge, as I hoped to get an addition to my collection, and said, “We can easily do this, but I must ask you to tell me frankly and without any criticism everything that occurs to your mind after you focus your attention, without any particular intention, on the forgotten word.”[2]
“Very well, the ridiculous idea comes to me to divide the word in the following way: a and liquis.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“What else does that recall to you?”
“The thought goes on to reliques—liquidation—liquidity—fluid.”
“Does that mean anything to you now?”
“No, not by a long shot.”