Random words

I have no idea when I learn certain words in a language. It seems with Spanish that I really do have a good base, thanks to AP Spanish in high school, and an extra year beyond that helping teach AP Spanish. I know a lot of random words(though my vocabulary is still not anywhere near where it needs to be for fluency).

But anyway, every once in a while I have one of those word that keeps on coming up in my thoughts, perhaps because it just sounds fun. Over the past couple of days, it's been 'payaso' or 'clown.' I mean, I have no idea how it even came up. I don't think I've seen a clown, I hate clowns, etc. But payaso is just such a fun word, in the middle of the day, I'll just be reminded of it. Other times, I'll have words like 'bombachas(plaited pants)' or 'にゃにゃしています(grinning)' stuck in my head. Hey, at least I know what they mean!

I wonder if this is a side effect of language learning and if other people have the same thing happen to them.