№ 13 from the chapter on involuntary measure; see also the unattributed essay on the foot.
/ˈbrɛv.ɪ.kaʊnt/
noun · etym: noemic-latinate · brevi- (brief, short) + -count · informally step-count
the personal habit of counting steps without meaning to.
brevicount begins before the foot does. there is a number waiting in the mouth. the walker is otherwise occupied — thinking about memory, about an unsent letter, about whether the kettle was left on — and yet somewhere between forty-three and forty-four the counting continues, intact, having not consulted the walker at all.
brevicount is most active on staircases (see stairs), and on the way to a place one has already arrived at in thought. it ceases the moment it is noticed; one becomes the counter and the count diverges.
in a sentence: "i made it home in eighty-six brevicounts, give or take a errancy."