Nonperson

Seeking Help

Many years ago I worked in Sotland. A Glaswegian friend used a word to describe a colleague. I asked what it meant and was told that it described a person who, on entering a room, gave the impression someone had just left. Sadly I forgot the word and have often felt the need of it.

Can anyone help, does it exist or was I having my leg pulled?

Could it be "persona non grata." From Merriam-Webster online:

Main Entry: per.so.na non gra.ta
Pronunciation: p&r-'sO-n&-"nän-'gra-t&, -'grä-
Function: adjective
Etymology: New Latin, unacceptable person
Date: 1904

personally unacceptable or unwelcome

Or could it be:

Mr. Cellophane
(From "Chicago")

If someone stood up in a crowd
And raised his voice up way out loud
And waved his arm and shook his leg
You'd notice him
If someone in the movie show
Yelled "Fire in the second row
This whole place is a powder keg!"
You'd notice him

And even without clucking like a hen
Everyone gets noticed, now and then,
Unless, of course, that personage should be
Invisible, inconsequential me!

Cellophane
Mister Cellophane
Shoulda been my name
Mister Cellophane
'Cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I'm there...

Or could it have been "nebbish"? From Yiddish "nebech." (Do they speak Americanized Yiddish in Scotland?) Feeling as if someone has just left is a classic way of describing a nebbish.

Ms Berg:
This non-presence, "presence of absence," or: usurpation of somebody else's presence, it gives me the chills. Tell me, does nebbish or nebech originate from the occult? (Jewish mysticism?)
Thanks
Anders

My source, Leo Rosten's "The Joys of Yiddish," says the word originates from the Czech "neboky." I haven't found any connection with the occult. The line about leaving the room is simply a joke based on exaggeration: a nebbish is such a nobody that his presence seems to subtract something from a gathering.

Okay, so it's a nobody. As you can see, I had thought it was a vacuum of evil. Actually, I posted the Buffy thread by association. I wonder if there's a name for what I'm thinking of . . . Vampire is a bit trivial and over the top. Yes, I got it! (Having used Merriam-Webster's online thesaurus) I suggest vimpire! From 'vim' meaning energy and enthusiasm, '-pire' being self-explanatory. How do you like it?
Anders
Thanks for the suggestions. I particularly like "nebbish" which is spot on and another one which I had forgotten. I'm pretty certain though that the word(s) I seek are native to Scotland.

I thought VIM was a bath cleaner. Alan

If this thread hasn't grown whiskers I'm still looking but have another near miss with the Scots "nyaff" a very irritating wee person. Alan