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
Diane, a bridge player from Wilmington, North Carolina, asks about sitting with the bathtub, a phrase her friend uses for a lopsided game where one pair keeps getting the good cards. The phrase appears in newspaper columns about bridge starting in...
Is there such a thing as a “neutral” accent, and if so what does it sound like? And that quirk in the way southern Californians talk about freeways. They’ll say things like take the 405 and get on the 8. Why the definite article...