stim
v.— «I have heard a few autistic people who are uncomfortable with the term stimming because most of their stims are involuntary. Personally I don’t see what the problem is even when it’s involuntary—I’m not totally convinced that my involuntary stimming isn’t fulfilling some stimulatory function, for one, and second, I just don’t see what the big deal is about calling it stimming. I also can stim more voluntarily.» —“Re: Autism and Rocking” by sggaB the Slug Usenet: alt.support.autism Jan. 16, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The words tough, through, and dough all end in O-U-G-H. So why don’t they rhyme? A lively new book addresses the many quirks of English by explaining the history of words and phrases. And: have you ever been in a situation where a group makes...
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...