Library
Words
One word a day, defined and traced to its origin. Each belongs to a daily connection alongside one idea and one moment.
Genuflect
To lower one knee in worship or respect; figuratively, to defer too readily to a person or power
Tautology
In logic, a statement true under every interpretation of its parts; in ordinary speech, needless repetition of the same idea
Perestroika
Russian for “restructuring”: Mikhail Gorbachev's effort to remake the Soviet economy and political system while preserving socialism and the Soviet Union
Deus ex machina
A sudden solution that resolves a story's conflict without being caused or prepared by what came before
Lagrange point
One of five locations where gravity and orbital motion let a smaller object keep pace with two larger bodies, reducing the fuel needed to stay nearby
Robot
A machine that performs work automatically, named from a Czech word for the compulsory labor once demanded from serfs
Cantillon effect
The Cantillon effect is the uneven impact of new money. It enters through particular banks, markets, or programs, changing some prices and incomes before...
Commissar
In Soviet usage, a Communist Party official appointed to enforce the party line, supervise political education, and monitor the loyalty of a military unit or...
Adverse selection
Adverse selection occurs when one side knows more about risk than the other. The people or assets most likely to cause a loss enter the deal, while safer...
Stoic
A person who endures hardship without complaint, after the Stoics of ancient Athens, who taught you to spend effort only on what is actually yours to control
Vanguard
The foremost position in an advancing army or movement; the people or group leading the way
Shibboleth
A word used to tell insiders from outsiders. The meaning is beside the point; what matters is that outsiders give themselves away trying to say it
Pareto principle
The rule of thumb that roughly 80 percent of the results come from about 20 percent of the causes
Hedonic treadmill
The tendency of people to return to a roughly stable baseline level of happiness despite major positive or negative life changes
Infohazard
True information that does harm simply by being known, like the recipe for a weapon or an idea that damages whoever learns it