Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun neologism The phenomenon of mistakenly checking one's cell phone/mobile in the belief that one is receiving a call.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Blend of ring and anxiety.

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Examples

  • This phenomenon has also been called ringxiety or phosealarm (ph).

    CNN Transcript Oct 11, 2007 2007

  • Following the New York Times story on “audio illusion, phantom phone rings or ringxiety and fauxcellarm” - described as the new reason for people to either bemoan the techno-saturation of modern life or question their sanity, News. com.au via Engadget now claims the phenomenon - of falsely believing you hear your mobile phone [...]

    Smart Mobs » Blog Archive » Ringxiety 2006

  • Using the cellphones for a prolonged period, 292 persons (67 per cent) developed nomophobia and 280 were suffering from ringxiety.

    The Hindu - Front Page 2009

  • If the answer is yes to both, you are probably suffering from nomophobia and ringxiety.

    The Hindu - Front Page 2009

  • David Laramie, from California’s School of Professional Psychology, who coined the termed ringxiety and says he himself is a sufferer.

    Smart Mobs » Blog Archive » Ringxiety 2006

Comments

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  • The sensation and the false belief that one can hear his or her mobile phone ringing or feel it vibrating, when in fact the telephone is not doing so. reference.com

    February 20, 2007

  • Excellent!

    February 20, 2007

  • This speaks volumes about our culture's obsession with cell phones. I've asked before if anyone is aware of a word that means "anti-cell phone." I'm still looking for one, if anyone happens to know it.

    Does anyone ever hear their name called when listening to music too loud? Used to happen to me all the time when I was younger but, then, my mother was prone to flying off the deep end if I didn't respond immendiately!

    February 20, 2007

  • AZ, I've never had the name-calling experience (hmm...should I rephrase?), but I *do* sometimes hear my birds singing when they're not even in the same county, much less the same room. Let's hear it for auditory hallucinations. ;-)

    February 20, 2007

  • For those of you with gmail, I often hear the chat chime when no one has written to me. I'm a sad man.

    February 20, 2007

  • AZ, I often hear my name when I'm listening to loud music. Always have. And I hear the gmail chime too, or else the Outlook one if I'm at work.

    Auditory hallucinations... Did you know there was a phenomenon noted during the U.S. Civil War, of a town or village near a large battle not being able to hear the artillery, while other towns much further away could hear it? They called it an acoustic shadow. What a creepy term.

    Nothing to do with this word though... sorry to hijack the thread...

    February 21, 2007

  • Abraxas, Gmail *is* the shizzle. You are completely forgiven for your preoccupation with the best e-mail application ever.

    February 21, 2007

  • Acoustic Shadow: cool term c_b.

    And thanks jennarenn; I feel less loserish now.

    February 21, 2007

  • That's bizarre, c_b. Do they know how that occurred? It sounds like it could be something like what happens in "whispering rooms," where you can hear someone clear across the room but someone standing right next to them cannot. (Isn't there a place in the Capitol Building like that?)

    February 21, 2007

  • "From the Rotunda, visitors walk into Statuary Hall. This room was once the meeting place for the House of Representatives. However, it became Statuary Hall in Eighteen-Sixty-Four after the number of lawmakers grew too large to continue meeting there. Another name for Statuary Hall is the “Whisper Chamber.�? This is because when a visitor stands at one end of the room, he or she can hear what people at the other end are saying. The shape of the room with its high ceiling creates this unusual movement of sound waves."

    February 21, 2007

  • So, if someone were anxious to hear artillery from a nearby large Civil War battle, and kept thinking he/she were hearing it, but wasn't... would that be artillerxiety? acoustixiety? stupid?

    February 21, 2007

  • Yes, that's it! Thanks, Abraxas. I remember a scene in a West Wing episode in which certain top-secret information got out via the acoustics in Statuary Hall. Funny.

    February 21, 2007

  • Which is complete junk, because people with a TS clearance wouldn't be talking about work in public, much less a whispering gallery.

    I've heard that 24 has similar inaccuracies.

    November 15, 2007

  • Of course it's junk--it's TV! Still, it was fun to watch. :-)

    November 15, 2007

  • I have no problem with junk. I just think it's crisper when they get it right. ;)

    edit: crisper? more crisp? Neither sounds right to my ear.

    November 15, 2007

  • Well, you could always fall back on crispier. ;-)

    November 16, 2007

  • Murray Crispness!

    November 16, 2007

  • Is that a reference?

    November 16, 2007

  • I think that's oroboros' own special way of wishing us a festive yuletide. ;-)

    November 16, 2007

  • Oh. *smacks head*

    November 16, 2007

  • It's okay. You're sick today.

    November 16, 2007