Expression describing short memory for names

Unfortunately, you can't recall a person's name. What expression would you use to apologize for it and make some excuse perhaps? My memory is ... 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Expressiondescribingshortmemoryfornames Threadstarter dreamlike Startdate Dec17,2011 dreamlike SeniorMember Poland Polish Hi!Let'sassumeyoumeetsomeoneatapartyandwhenmakingacquaintanceyou'retoldaperson'sfirstname.Yousplittohavefunwithotherguestsandmeetyournewly-metfriendlateron.Unfortunately,youcan'trecallaperson'sname.Whatexpressionwouldyouusetoapologizeforitandmakesomeexcuseperhaps?MymemoryisveryshortwhenitcomestonamesandIalmosteverytimehavetoaskagainforaperson'snametomemoriseit.Ifoundanicephrase,namelyI'mterriblewithnames-butmaybeyoucanthinkofsomebetterexpression. Oh,Hi!What'syournameagain?Excuseme,I'mterriblewithnames!   se16teddy SeniorMember LondonbutfromYorkshire English-England Thereareseveralphrasesthatpeopletrotout.OneisIneverforgetaface,butIcanneverrememberaname.   catlady60 SeniorMember Nazareth,PA English-US(NewYorkCity) ThereisaslangexpressioninAE:IsufferfromCRS:can'tremembers**t!(orcan'tremembersquat).It'snotappropriateforformaluse,butabetterexpressionwouldbe,I'mnotgoodatrememberingnames.   dreamlike SeniorMember Poland Polish catlady60said: ThereisaslangexpressioninAE:IsufferfromCRS:can'tremembers**t!(orcan'tremembersquat).I'mnotgoodatrememberingnames. Clicktoexpand... Butitimpliesnotbeingabletorememberanything,Ihavedifficultiesrembemberingnamesonly.ThesecondonewouldbeOKwereitnotforthefactthatI'mlookingforsomethingwithmoreidiomaticmeaning."I'mterriblewithnames"canbetreatedassuch?Doyouhearitoften?Isitcorrect?Theotherversionis"I'mterribleatrememberingnames". se16teddysaid: Thereareseveralphrasesthatpeopletrotout.OneisIneverforgetaface,butIcanneverrememberaname. Clicktoexpand... That'smorelikeit!   Loob SeniorMember EnglishUK "I'mterriblewithnames"worksbeautifullyforme,dreamlike! (Iamterriblewithnames.)   dreamlike SeniorMember Poland Polish I'llsticktoitthen.Thanksforallyourhelp. Loobsaid: (Iamterriblewithnames.) Clicktoexpand... We'reinthesameboat   T ThomasTompion MemberEmeritus SouthernEngland English-England TheonlynamethatspringstomindisAlzheimer,butthenI'vesufferedfromnominalaphasiaallmylife.   Loob SeniorMember EnglishUK ThomasTompionsaid: TheonlynamethatspringstomindisAlzheimer,butthenI'vesufferedfromnominalaphasiaallmylife. Clicktoexpand... Ilove"nominalaphasia",TT-perhapsI'llstartusingit! Thoughprobablynot-I'llforgetwhatitmeans....   T ThomasTompion MemberEmeritus SouthernEngland English-England It'sthetechnicalterm;I'veafriendwhohasbeenworryingandtalkingaboutitfortwentyyearsnow.He'saboutfifty-five.   PaulQ SeniorMember UK English-England There'stheoldtrick;saytheman'snameisJohnSmith... You:"Youknow?Yourname'sgonefromme!" JS:"John." You:"Yes,Iknewthat,Imeantyoursurname..."   Pertinax SeniorMember Queensland,Aust BrE->AuE I'veheard"I'mhopelesswithnames!"andthesomewhatriskier"Doyouprefertobecalledbyanickname?"intendedtoelicitaresponsesuchas"No,XXXisfine". Thetermnominalaphasiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominal_aphasiaseemsratherstrong.Eventheweakerterm"dysnomia"seemsalittlestrongforjustapoormemoryforpeople'snames. Begratefulthatit'sonlypeople'snamesyoucan'tremember.Someofushavenodifficultywithnames,butcan'trememberfaces.That'sfarmoreembarrassing.   D dukaine SeniorMember Richmond,VA English-American Ijustsay,"I'msosorry,pleasetellmeyournameagain?"Idon'tfeelitnecessarytogiveanexcuse.It'sararepersonthathasneverforgottensomeone'snamerightafterbeingintroduced.   L lancer99 Banned English-U.S. Howabout,"Sorry--I'malittlechallengedwhenitcomestonames"or"Sorry-I'malittlename-challenged?" "Challenged"meaning"dumb,"andbyusingself-deprecatinghumor,peoplewillusuallyforgiveyouforforgettingtheirnames. -R   Lark-lover SeniorMember Arabic WoulditworkifIsaid:"Iamaforgetfulman,mayIbehonoredtohaveyournameagain?"   T ThomasTompion MemberEmeritus SouthernEngland English-England Notunlessyouwantabootupthebackside.   V viajero_canjeado SeniorMember Georgia English-SoutheasternUSA Whatabout"I'vehadtoomanybootsupthebacksidelately,andit'saffectedmyabilitytoremembernames.Couldyouremindmeofyours?" Butseriously,dreamlike,"I'mbad/terriblewithnames"isprobablythemostcommonwayI'veheardtosayit.   dreamlike SeniorMember Poland Polish IseemyquestiontrigerredquiteadiscussionYouhavesomeingeniousideashere. Lark-loversaid: WoulditworkifIsaid:"Iamaforgetfulman,mayIbehonoredtohaveyournameagain?" Clicktoexpand... It'soverlyformalandcancausesomeraisedeyebrows,unlessutteredatsomelavishfeastamongnoblemen lancer99said: Howabout,"Sorry--I'malittlechallengedwhenitcomestonames"or"Sorry-I'malittlename-challenged?" "Challenged"meaning"dumb,"andbyusingself-deprecatinghumor,peoplewillusuallyforgiveyouforforgettingtheirnames. Clicktoexpand... Areyoucertainanative-speakerwouldgraspitrightawayandwouldn'thavetothinkwhattheheckdidImeanbysaying"I'malittlename-challenged?"Ifso,it'sworthconsidering. edit:OhI'vejustdiscoveredit'sapunon"visually/physicallychallenged"soI'vejustansweredthatquestion   Lastedited:Dec18,2011 Youmustloginorregistertoreplyhere. 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