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Three simple reminders. 1. Slow down. I watched two fighters I train with grapple on the mat the other week, each with very different fighting styles. One relied on strength to muscle his way towards a submission while the other relied on patience and technique. While the first fighter flailed his arms and legs trying to take his opponent’s back, the second fighter … [Read more...] about Brain Fodder: Slow down, smile, and say thank you.

In the last post, I mentioned the 40s slang term for being boy crazy: “khaki wacky.” As it turns out, that is not the only teenager-prompted phrase that comes up throughout the decade. Much like the 20s and 30s, there is an intense amount of lively, dance-oriented, and flirtatious language that arose, giving us a very bright and seemingly happy snapshot of the time. “Doll … [Read more...] about New Slang: Another Snapshot of the 40s

NBC’s highly anticipated new drama debuted early this year on January 7, 2013. Meagan Good plays Joanna Locasto, a detective who is sent on an extended undercover mission into a wealthy household to identify and incriminate her best friend’s murderer. Though the show doesn’t base Joanna’s identity in her Blackness, there are subtle references to the reality of her race, … [Read more...] about TV Culture: “Deception” and the Rise of Black Actresses

One would not necessarily expect the 1940s to have a string of seemingly strange rhyming slang terms, and yet expressions like “fuddy-duddy” and “gobbledygook” became increasingly popular at the time. Why the ludicrous-like phrases? Perhaps a look into their origins can provide an answer. “Fuddy-duddy,” referring to a foolishly old-fashioned or stuffy person, is not … [Read more...] about New Slang: Funnies in the Forties