Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Finding the right words

Okay I've been up way too many hours now... but I'm going insane. My brain has lost a word (or I suppose it's possible no words exist for this description but I wouldn't put it past me that I lost the word). Here's the description of what I want to capture:

That moment when you're talking with someone and they say something stupid/crazy and your eyebrows raise and you kind of smile politely and your eyes go wide and it's something that feels like it should be an eyeroll but that would be rude to the other person. It's the I-just-realized-how-crazy-you-are-how-do-I-get-out-of-this-conversation look, or the this-was-explained-thirty-times-already-why-are-you-still-asking-about-it look.

That's it. That's all the words I have for that look/feeling. Literally none of the words I am coming up with even come close to what I want to say with that.

Anybody have some sort of suggestion, or at least a creative way to handle that? Or, if there is a word for it and I'm just missing it, you can give *me* that look as you think to yourself Mouse-is-crazy-she-needs-some-sleep-or-possibly-medical-attention.

Astonished exasperation?

I was going to suggest just 'astonished', but groobie nailed it with her descriptive phrase.

ALSO, Mouse, 'get some sleep!' said the pot to the kettle.

It's also okay to put in the long phrase with all the hyphens and then, later, come back and change it in editing mode, when you might possibly be more awake and can remember the word.

Good luck!

Astonished and exasperated were the two that came to my mind.

You can always use thesaurus once you get a word that 'almost' covers the feeling, but not quite. I'm always doing that.

"Incredulous" maybe?

I, too, like "exasperated." As for the surprised aspect, how about gobsmacked or dumbfounded?

Joy,
Lynn

p.s., Would "flummoxed" work?

If you think they're nuts but go along anyway you are humoring them.

If they already said that half an hour ago and are repeating themselves, your eyes might glaze over.

Hahaha, these are great! Thanks everybody. The best suggestion was sleep, but these are all great. Now I have a new problem, choosing which one fits the sentence best... exasperated and flummoxed definitely work, as they're a little less surprised and a little more judge-y. I'm hoping I can squeeze one of these in to the sentence once I get the chance to work on the story again this week.

It's always the littlest things that trip me up.