Quiz Guy John Chaneski was inspired by his college-age son’s remote classes, which he could hear but not quite make out through the wall. For this week’s puzzle, he offers a similarly garbled description of a college course. For example, which...
Jody calls are military cadences based on the exploits of Jody, an imaginary character blamed for all the things that might go wrong back home while a soldier is deployed, such as losing one’s girlfriend or car. In a master’s thesis, University of...
The term cultural cringe refers to a tendency to regard one’s own culture as inferior to that of another. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Cultural Cringe” I didn’t realize that there was an actual term for something that I’ve...
Amid the rise of social media oversharing, you’ll notice at least one peculiar change: people don’t seem to write on the walls of public restrooms anymore. But if you’re in search of some good old fashioned bathroom stall graffiti, we recommend...
homophily n.— «Sociologists have a term for this birds-of-a-feather-flocking-together phenomenon: Homophily. Some explanations for America’s political homophily suggest that a president who is determined to be a uniter might be able to help the...
A former sociology professor shares a peeve about the language of political pundits: He’s irked when they say a candidate wants to replicate or duplicate his win. The professor explains why he thinks they should eschew those words and instead opt...