“ Tilpehööri” is always clearly useful and needed to something unnecessary or obscure small items are called “ höhä”or “ sälä”. “ Tilpehööri” derives phonetically from the Swedish language “ tillbehör” (‘that which is included’), and can refer especially to very small items, often found in small plastic bags, needed to put together furniture (say from IKEA). Other generic placeholder words in colloquial use include “ systeemi” (‘system’), “ homma” and “ hommeli” (‘thing’, ‘thingy’). “ Juttu” has the literal meanings ‘story’, ‘criminal/court case’, or ‘issue’, but may refer to virtually anything inanimate. It uses the Finnish verb form “ lie”or “ lienee”, meaning “(it) probably is”. An idiosyncratically Finnish placeholder word is “ mikälie”or “ mikä lie”, literally ‘whatever (it) may be’. Hilavitkutin – Mikälie – Juttu – Systeemi – Tilpehööri – Höhä – Säläįinns are inventive when it comes to create placeholder words… “Hilavitkutin”, the most common Finnish placeholder word for technical objects and machinery actually refers to ‘a device related to a lattice’. “ Gunk” may refer to any fairly large quantity of objects of indeterminate identity, much like the English ‘junk’. “ Det där du vet” means ‘that thing you know’. “ Vadhannuhette” and “ vaddetnuhette” correspond to ‘whatshisname ‘ and ‘whatchamacallit ‘ respectively, except that Swedes use the past tense. More familiarly or when openly expressing low interest, people use “ tjafs” or “ trams” (drivel) and “ skräp” or “ krams” (rubbish). “ Apparat” (or, more slangy, mackapär) more specifically refers to a complex appliance of some kind, much like the German “ Gerät”. Some plural nouns are “ grejsimojs”, “ grunkimojs”, “ grejs”and “ tjofräs”, which correspond to thingamabob, and the youth loan word ‘stuff’, which is pronounced with the Swedish ‘u’. Swedish is maybe the most appropriate language for placeholders! The most common placeholders are “ Sak”, “ grej”, “ pryl”, “ mojäng/ moj” (from French “ moyen”) and “ grunka”.
Sak – Grej – Pryl – Mojäng – Grunka – Grunkimojs – Grejs – Tjofräs The same occurs with “ oojamaflip” whose origins remain a mystery… It is also a famous candy bar! So as the “ thingamajig” which is an extended form of the word ‘thing’ which has first been used as far back as 1751! Another placeholder “ thingamabob” inspired the 1942 song “The Thing-Ummy Bob” which celebrates the production line worker of World War II making components for complex weapons to win the war! The placeholder “ Doohickey” was first attested in 1914, of uncertain origin, but probably made from ‘ doodad’ and ‘ hickey’. All of them sound quite funny and have amazing etymology! “ Whatchamacallit” is actually a shortened version of “what you may call it”. “Hand me that whatchamacallit and a couple of those doohickeys so I can attach this thingamabob to the thingamajig down there!” English-speakers have so many placeholders used for objects whose actual name the speaker doesn’t know or can’t remember. Gizmo – Thingamajig – Whatchamacallit – Whatsitsname – Thingamabob – Doohickey – Oojamaflip