mean world syndrome
n.— «He coined the phrase “mean world syndrome,” a phenomenon in which people who watch large amounts of television are more likely to believe that the world is an unforgiving and frightening place.» —“George Gerbner, TV violence researcher and theorist, dies at 86″ in Philadelphia, Pa. PennLive.com Dec. 30, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...
Jim in Columbia, South Carolina, has noticed sportscasters’ use of the phrase on the season with reference to a period of time. This construction shows up in the sports pages as early as the 1880s, first referring to a team’s revenue and...