Ever been in a situation where a group makes a decision to do something, then later finds out that no one really wanted to do that thing in the first place, but everyone went along with it rather than rock the boat? There’s a term for that! It’s called the Abilene Paradox, and there’s a funny story about its origin. This is part of a complete episode.
Following up on our earlier conversations about what to call grandparents who move house in order to be nearer their grandkids, Martha proposes trailing grandparents, patterened after the term trailing spouse, which refers to a situation where one...
Linda from Wichita, Kansas, thinks we need a word for that closed-mouth little smile we give to strangers on the street — not a friendly Duchenne smile, just a polite acknowledgment of the other person’s existence. She suggests the word smurm...
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