Years ago, I named the world’s first “bidirectional” condom, so this story really spoke to me:
Diverse & Resilient, an LGBTQ organization in Milwaukee, decided to do something about the bland branding of free condoms. So it partnered with a local marekting agency, Cramer Krasselt, to create Naughty Bags, condoms designed by teens for teens. According to Adweek, the condoms are made “to be sex-positive, humorous, and cool” and feature “witty names like Pork Parka, Pelvic Poncho, Scuba Gear, Surge Protector and—our favorite—Papa Stopper.” Brilliant – in every sense.
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Which words first appeared in Merriam-Webster dictionaries the year you were born? (Merriam-Webster)
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Linguistic analysis of 3 billion Reddit comments reveals distinctions and commonalities among the “alt-right.” A few of the words highlighted in this essay are former Fritinancy words of the week: manosphere, cuckservative, and based. (Tim Squirrell for Quartz)
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Wanted a toothbrush, got a cyberpunk future. pic.twitter.com/cwmKz3APVl
— E.Saxey (@esaxey) August 7, 2017
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Why does every lifestyle startup look the same? Hint: A certain sans-serif typeface has something to do with it. (Eliza Brooke for Racked)
Outdoor Voices, "Technical apparel for recreation"
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“In the English-speaking world, roly polies go by many names. Maybe you called them pill bugs when you were a kid. Gardeners love coming up with names for them. Some names are not very pleasing: woodlice (ew), carpenter’s flea (bleah), sow bug (yuck), pill worm (ugh, squish it). And then you’ve got some good ones: doodle bugs, cheesy bugs, butchy boys, boat builders, bibble bugs, odimadods, woozy pugs, chisel bobs, potato bugs, tomato bugs, granny greys, Billy buttons, tiddlyboars, monkey peas, peaballs, crunchy bats, chitty bobs, and chuggie pigs.” And the best part? They come from the family Armadillidiidae, which is ridiculously fun to say. (Frank Smith for The Awl, via Ben Zimmer)
Roly poly via The Awl.
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Meet the woman who wrote @realDonaldTrump's campaign Facebook posts - and the tech firm that helped him get elected. pic.twitter.com/9vA3KMIIGj
— BBC Stories (@bbcstories) August 13, 2017
Fairydiddle, malolly, and 17 other old-timey ways to say “bullshit.” (Angela Tung for Mental Floss.)
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It turns out there’s no agreement on how to pronounce antifa, the shorthand for anti-fascist. (Language Log) (More on antifa here.)
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Will sheetcaking – introduced by Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live – enter our political lexicon? (Lingua Franca) ‘'
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From James Shaw, the co-leader of New Zealand’s Green Party:
We have a new slogan. ‘Love New Zealand’. Some of you will remember we used it in 2014. But we believe in recycling. #LoveNZ #NZ
— James Shaw (@jamespeshaw) August 13, 2017
And God created Millennial Earth: “And God said, “Let there be light,” and it was lit AF.” (McSweeney’s, via Sam Sanders) (More on AF here.)
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“To understand Trump is … to understand his appeal as an aspirational brand to the worst people in the United States.” (David Roth for The Baffler)
So my friend went to a hardware store today. Small businesses rock. pic.twitter.com/UPjB63qwae
— KC Lemson (@kclemson) August 10, 2017
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