Is there a term for a catchy tune that stays in your head after you hear it? The Germans call it an earworm.
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8The German word is Ohrwurm.– Mehper C. PalavuzlarCommented Aug 13, 2010 at 19:41
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I call it "Back in Black." :-)– Edward TanguayCommented Aug 13, 2010 at 23:34
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2Mark Twain wrote the short story Punch, Brothers, Punch about this phenomenon, but didn't have a specific name for it. I have heard earworm used for it for quite a while, although I don't know when the earliest usage I heard was.– Peter ShorCommented Jul 28, 2011 at 14:52
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Unfortunately, the corn earworm totally swamps any search for the term "earworm" or "ear worm", but "earworm" is the term I have used for a decade, at least.– Hot LicksCommented Oct 30, 2017 at 20:10
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I am reminded that there was a Star Trek episode (likely in TNG from 1987-94) where some sort of worm would enter a victim's ear and take over their brain. To the large number of young people who saw this episode "earworm" would have a strong association, making it "catch on".– Hot LicksCommented Oct 3, 2018 at 1:30
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5 Answers
I have never heard of a single word, but the phrase "stuck in your head" comes to mind.
In English it is called earworm or sticky tune.
answered Aug 13, 2010 at 19:40
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5Sticky tune? May I ask where you heard that? I don't remember running across it in the U.S.– mmyersCommented Aug 13, 2010 at 19:51
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6I've never heard of either of these words.– deleteCommented Aug 14, 2010 at 3:22
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5"Earworm" as an English word is a bit of a neologism, but catching on fast. I heard it about ten years ago. I didn't know it was a calque from German though.– AlexCCommented Aug 24, 2010 at 13:58
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2Upvote for earworm; downvote for sticky tune. Separate this into two answers? Commented Aug 21, 2018 at 17:09
Most songs, especially of the pop variety, tend to contain a "hook" which is designed to, well, hook into your mind. Not quite the answer to your question but a part of it. You can read more about musical hooks on Wikipedia.
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2Perhaps songs like this ought to be known as "hookers". Oh wait, that's something quite different... Commented Aug 16, 2010 at 13:00
Jingle.
Having said which, I prefer to use "earworm" these days because "jingle" has such an overwhelming association with advertising.
Sometimes the word "brainwashed" is used to express the state of having a tune stuck in one's head:
I'm brainwashed with that tune
Note that applies to the state of the person, not to the tune itself.
