Word of the Day
There's a Japanese word for what I do: tsundoku.
I have over 50 books sitting here waiting for me — and most of them are fiction. Worlds I fully intend to disappear into. Eventually.
Every unread book felt urgent when I bought it. Like if I didn’t grab it right then, I’d never want it again. Tsundoku has a name for that too: ichigo ie. One encounter, one chance.
Guilty. But the pile stays.
TIL a new word.
decoraphobia (n.) — the irrational anxiety of committing to a home decor decision; fear that whatever you choose will look wrong, date badly, or just never feel quite right. Often strikes hardest in the paint chip aisle.
via Jane Pauley Explains Her Self-Diagnosed Decoraphobia and Why She Can’t Move a Candlestick at Home
TIL a new word: tootle
tootle
verb: to toot gently, repeatedly, or continuously
: to drive or move along in a leisurely manner
TIL a new word: remonstrate
remonstrate
verb: to present and urge reasons in opposition : expostulate
TIL a new word: looksmaxxing.
looksmaxxing
noun
: the practice of taking one or more sometimes extreme or dangerous measures intended to increase one's physical attractiveness
… I know some people who are really serious about looksmaxxing avoid direct exposure to sunlight as much as possible, or totally give up alcohol or sugar, or they stay at a BMI of 18 …
via What is looksmaxxing? How parents can talk to their sons about it : NPR
TIL a new word: stultify.
stultify
verb
: to have a dulling or inhibiting effect on
verb
: to impair, invalidate, or make ineffective : negate
Via nytimes.com
TIL a new word: sycophant.
sycophant
noun
: a servile self-seeking flatterer : one who praises those in power in order to gain their approval
a fawning sycophant
TIL a new word: gesundheit.
gesundheit
interjection
: Said to someone who has just sneezed.
TIL a new word: untenable.
untenable
adjective
: not able to be defended
an untenable position
adjective
: not able to be occupied
untenable apartments
Being stranded on a ship in the ocean like that, with all the uncertainty about what is happening, is frightening. I would be scared, too.
“What’s happening right now is very real for all of us here. We’re not just a story. We’re not just headlines." — travel vlogger Jake Rosmarin
TIL a new word: hantavirus.
hantavirus
noun
: any of a family (Hantaviridae and especially genus Orthohantavirus) of bunyaviruses transmitted especially by rodent feces and urine and including viruses causing serious pulmonary disease or hemorrhagic fevers marked by renal necrosis
via CNN