Goodies from The Word Spy

The Word Spy

Word Spy is a fun site to track neologisms and jargon. I’ve dug it for for a long time but only occasionally remember to drop by for updates. I’m always delighted when I do.

Found a few yesterday you might enjoy:

• electric-can-opener question - The recognition that some older, low-tech products are superior to the newer, high-tech products that are supposed to replace them.
• sorceror’s apprentice mode - An e-mail phenomenon in which the receipt of a message causes multiple automatic messages to be sent, each of which triggers the same automatic response, resulting in a flood of messages.
• joy-to-stuff ratio - The time a person has to enjoy life versus the time a person spends accumulating material goods.
• mode confusion - Confusion caused by complicated digital technology, particularly when it is difficult to discern the current state or mode of a digital device.
• normal accident - An accident that is the nearly inevitable result of technological interactions so complex that they cannot fully predicted or controlled.
• flame sandwich - A note that consists of a negative comment surrounded by two positive comments.