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Words to Remember

This is a collection of words that I would like to remember, but may not use often. For a list of words that I coined, click here.

Adjectives

Bucolic - adj.

  1. Relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and rural life; pastoral.

Nouns

Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon - n.

  1. The illusion in which something you've just learned about or noticed suddenly seems to appear everywhere. It's also known as the frequency illusion, where increased awareness makes an event, word, or object seem more common than it actually is; a form of selection bias.

Continuity Error - n.

  1. A perceived error in the consistency of the characteristics of people, plot, objects, and places seen by the reader or viewer of a media over some period of time.

Cryptomnesia - n.

  1. A memory phenomenon in which a person believes they are creating an original idea, thought, or work, when in fact it is a forgotten memory being recalled. The person is unaware that the idea actually originated from an earlier source.

Endling - n.

  1. The last remaining member of a (soon to be extinct) species.

Feynman Algorithm - n.

  1. A tongue-in-cheek stepped process for solving a given problem, it goes as follows:
    1. Write down the problem.
    2. Think real hard.
    3. Write down the solution.


- Source: "The Feynman algorithm was facetiously suggested by Murray Gell-Mann, a colleague of Feynman, in a New York Times interview."

Frontier Justice - n.

  1. Punishment or retribution carried out without legal authority or due process, often in lawless or remote areas where formal justice systems are absent. It typically refers to vigilante actions taken to enforce order or avenge wrongdoing.

Graceful Degredation - n.

  1. In systems design, the ability of a system to maintain limited functionality when parts of it fail, rather than completely breaking down. It ensures that performance decreases gradually instead of catastrophically under stress or partial failure.

Idempotence - n.

  1. The property of an action that can be repeated, but further repetition causes no distinct change in outcome after the initial act.

Incest Debt - n.

  1. The accumulation of financial obligation or emotional burden resulting from giving or receiving money, gifts, or material support within a family, often leading to complex dynamics of guilt, dependency, or control.

IKEA Effect - n.

  1. A cognitive bias in which people place disproportionately high value on products or projects they have partially created themselves, even if the result is of lower quality.

Liftocracy - n.

  1. A hypothetical system of government in which leadership or political authority is determined by physical strength or athletic prowess rather than intellect, merit, or election.

Lottocracy - n.

  1. A system of government in which political officials are selected by random lottery from a larger eligible population, rather than through elections or appointment; Sortition.

Mechanical Sympathy - n.

  1. The expression of care, respect, or understanding toward machines or inanimate objects, treating them as though they possess sensitivity or life. Often reflects an intuitive awareness of how things function and a desire to operate them harmoniously rather than forcefully.

Meritocracy - n.

  1. A system or social order in which individuals attain power, status, or advancement based on talent, ability, and achievement rather than wealth, privilege, or social class.

Narrative Transportation Theory - n.

  1. A psychological concept describing the experience of becoming deeply absorbed in a story or piece of media, during which one's thoughts, emotions, and attitudes (usually temporarily) align with the narrative. This immersion can influence beliefs, intentions, and behaviors to reflect the story's perspective or themes.

Plausible Deniability - n.

  1. The ability of people to deny knowledge of or responsibility for any damnable actions committed by others in an organizational hierarchy because of a lack of evidence that can confirm their participation, even if they were personally involved in or at least willfully ignorant of the actions.

Plausible Deniability Typo - n.

  1. The deliberate act of slightly underpaying a debt or reimbursement by a trivial amount, small enough that the discrepancy appears accidental and is unlikely to be challenged.


- Ex: Repaying a debt of $12.91 with the amount of $12.19.

Quim and Cosh - n.

  1. Well-fitting; Snug.
  2. Euphemism for sexual intercourse.


- Ex: It seems Bill and Suzy have been out all night getting quim and cosh.
- Further Reading: StackExchange: English

Semantic Satiation - n.

  1. A psychological phenomenon in which repeated exposure to a word or phrase causes it to temporarily lose its meaning, leading the listener or speaker to perceive it as a series of nonsensical or unfamiliar sounds.

Simulacrum - n.

  1. An image, imitation, or superficial representation of something; a semblance that lacks the substance or essence of the original; a trace.

Solidarity - n.

  1. Unity or mutual support within a group, class, or community arising from shared interests, goals, or principles; a sense of collective responsibility and common purpose.

Wendy Filter - n.

  1. A software feature or system mechanism designed to intentionally exclude specific data from appearing in search results or queries by preemptively flagging or filtering it out.


- Ex: I filtered out Rock music using a Wendy Filter so it won't appear when I shuffle my music library.
- Source: "One of the developers [of a software called Implode] had a girlfriend named Wendy and she hated some of his music. So, he wanted a way to quickly filter out all the songs that bugged her, hence Wendy Filters."
- Further Reading: Link

Verb

Vector Trace (Render) - v.

  1. (formal) To convert a rasterized image into a scalable vector format composed of mathematically defined points, lines, and curves, preserving the visual appearance without reliance on pixel resolution.
  2. (informal) To isolate and excise a specific portion of a raster image for reuse in other media, typically by manually removing unwanted pixels or background elements.