looksmaxxing / -maxxing 27 July 2026 Looksmaxxing is the practice of using aggressive, and sometimes dangerous, methods to improve one’s physical appearance. Methods range from improved grooming habits to extreme cosmetic surgery procedures. The term grew out of the incel community, which tends to believe that appearance is the only, or at
Mrs. Grundy 24 July 2026 Mrs. Grundy is a proverbial character, a scold and purveyor of society’s moral sentiments. She has her origin in Thomas Morton’s play Speed the Plough, penned in 1798 and first performed in 1800. While largely forgotten today, the play was enormously popular in its day.
botulism / botox 22 July 2026 Botulinum toxin is a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It is generally considered the deadliest poison known to humanity, and in years past had been developed as a biological weapon by the United States, the Soviet Union, and Iraq. Despite its toxicity, it has
blog 20 July 2026 A blog, as most of you probably know, is a website where a writer posts commentary, reflections, and personal anecdotes. It can also be a portion of a commercial website that provides product updates and commentary. And, as most of you also probably know, blog is a
scrub / shrub 17 July 2026 The nouns scrub and shrub are essentially variants on the same word. They both come from the Old English scrybb, meaning bushes or brush. The /ʃ/ or /sh/ pronunciation developed in Middle English. In addition to literal meaning of low or stunted plant growth, scrub has been
buckram 15 July 2026 Buckram is cotton or linen that has been stiffened, similar to canvas. But that original meaning has expanded into a figurative use meaning a stiff or starchy disposition or a false appearance of strength or courage. The word is a borrowing from either the Anglo-Norman bokeram
shepardize 13 July 2026 Unless you’re a lawyer, it’s unlikely you’ve ever run across the verb to shepardize, or its corresponding nouns shepardization and shepardizing. To shepardize a judicial opinion is to trace the subsequent cases that have cited the opinion to uncover its precedential value so it
Hail Mary play / prayer shot 10 July 2026 Hail Mary as part of a prayer or devotional recitation dates to late fourteenth century, but it appears a few decades earlier as a translation of the angelic greeting to Mary in Luke 1:28. It is a calque of the Latin Ave Maria. It is, however,
cottage cheese 8 July 2026 Cottage cheese is a very soft and mild cheese made from skimmed milk by adding an acid, such as vinegar or lemon juice, to the milk, causing the curds to separate from the whey. It is not aged. It has a high protein-to-fat ratio and
buttload / butt ugly 6 July 2026 Buttload is a slang term meaning a great quantity of something. It’s a relatively recent term; it starts to appear in the late 1980s. The -load is self-explanatory, But why butt? The butt comes from a slang use of that word as an intensifier. University
podcast 3 July 2026 A podcast is an audiovisual file—originally and most commonly audio only—or series of files that are made available for download to a portable media player. The audio format is usually MP3, and the files are distributed by an RSS feed or similar technology. It is
