Anyone know the word that describes the following...you’re in a crowded room....5 to 50 or so....and suddenly there occurs complete silence for a few seconds...totally coincidental......what word describes this phenomenon?
I cannot think of a specific word for this, but any of the following may be appropriate:
hush
lull
hiatus
cutoff
"Hiatus" seems really appropriate to me, though "lull" is very common.
Twenty minutes after the hour is the canonical time for this to occur.
Fifteen minutes after the hour is the academic time.
And when I was in academia, twenty minutes after the hour is the time when, the instructor having failed to appear, the students disperse.
But that's probably before you were born. These days I don't believe there are very many lectures any more anyway. All, all is online...