attention surplus disorder
n.— «She was extremely intense—that just a minimum phone conversation would be a few hours on the phone. And she wouldn’t even take hints to get off the phone. If someone would say, “Oh, I have to go to the bathroom; I have to get off,” she would say, “Oh, how long will it take you?” and then the person would say “10 minutes,” and then she’d say, “Oh, I’ll call you back in 10 minutes,” and then call back in 10 minutes and talk for another hour. Her husband said that she has something he affectionately called “Attention Surplus Disorder”—where she was so focused and just couldn’t be distracted at all.» —“Finding Iris Chang” by Paula Kamen New America Media Dec. 31, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Martha shares a funny story about her five-year-old great-niece, who misunderstood the name of her adopted home state, California. Then again, Unicornia does have a nice ring to it. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “The Republic of...
If you’ve never dined on funistrada, braised trake, or buttered ermal, you’re not missing out, nor are you alone. All of those are made-up food names that were part of a 1972 survey given to thousands of members of the U.S. military to determine...