Mike Pope
@mikepope.com
Tech writing & editing (update: now retired), language & words, occasional cats.
Friday words when the mood strikes me (and when it's Friday): https://mikepopewords.com/
Friday words when the mood strikes me (and when it's Friday): https://mikepopewords.com/
WorD: fawn response. "... it’s a way of merging with the desires of others in order to alleviate a threat. You sort of reshape yourself in the image of what someone else wants as a way of pleasing them, and thereby dissipate whatever menace they pose to you."
via Katy Waldman in the NYer
via Katy Waldman in the NYer
January 17, 2026 at 6:13 PM
WorD: fawn response. "... it’s a way of merging with the desires of others in order to alleviate a threat. You sort of reshape yourself in the image of what someone else wants as a way of pleasing them, and thereby dissipate whatever menace they pose to you."
via Katy Waldman in the NYer
via Katy Waldman in the NYer
Happy Caturday. Today featuring some frens I met in Panama City
January 10, 2026 at 12:31 PM
Happy Caturday. Today featuring some frens I met in Panama City
I wonder how many lives — American lives, Venezuelan lives — are going to be sacrificed for the oil companies
January 3, 2026 at 6:14 PM
I wonder how many lives — American lives, Venezuelan lives — are going to be sacrificed for the oil companies
WotD: "immigrant derangement syndrome", which Paul Krugman defines as "blaming brown-skinned people for everything bad".
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/immigrant-...
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/immigrant-...
Immigrant Derangement Syndrome
Blaming brown-skinned people for everything bad
paulkrugman.substack.com
January 2, 2026 at 12:11 AM
WotD: "immigrant derangement syndrome", which Paul Krugman defines as "blaming brown-skinned people for everything bad".
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/immigrant-...
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/immigrant-...
Getting on the "52 Things I Learned this Year" bandwagon. A few fun facts I learned:
- My, how pickup trucks have grown
- Why some salt is saltier than other salt
- English is so vowel-y
- Where do Canadians live?
... and 48 more.
www.mikepope.com/blog/Display...
- My, how pickup trucks have grown
- Why some salt is saltier than other salt
- English is so vowel-y
- Where do Canadians live?
... and 48 more.
www.mikepope.com/blog/Display...
December 31, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Getting on the "52 Things I Learned this Year" bandwagon. A few fun facts I learned:
- My, how pickup trucks have grown
- Why some salt is saltier than other salt
- English is so vowel-y
- Where do Canadians live?
... and 48 more.
www.mikepope.com/blog/Display...
- My, how pickup trucks have grown
- Why some salt is saltier than other salt
- English is so vowel-y
- Where do Canadians live?
... and 48 more.
www.mikepope.com/blog/Display...
WotD: "botsplaining" — using an AI-generated answer to "explain" something to someone who has expertise.
December 27, 2025 at 5:50 PM
WotD: "botsplaining" — using an AI-generated answer to "explain" something to someone who has expertise.
WotD: "Twixmas"
"came into popular usage in late 2010s and has spread since, beginning to overtake Betwixtmas and the traditional understanding of Christmas as including the period from December 25th to the feast of epiphany (January 6th)."
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Twixmas
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Twixmas
Twixmas - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
en.wiktionary.org
December 26, 2025 at 7:13 PM
WotD: "Twixmas"
WotD: "cow cuddling", which is just what it sounds like: "a form of animal-assisted therapy involving hugging cows for healing" (Wikipedia). Also a side hustle for dairy farmers to help with economic uncertainty.
thehustle.co/news/save-a-...
thehustle.co/news/save-a-...
Save a farm, cuddle a cow
Cow cuddling is a form of agritourism — the trendiest since equine therapy and goat yoga — that’s touted for its calming and therapeutic benefits.
thehustle.co
December 16, 2025 at 2:03 PM
WotD: "cow cuddling", which is just what it sounds like: "a form of animal-assisted therapy involving hugging cows for healing" (Wikipedia). Also a side hustle for dairy farmers to help with economic uncertainty.
thehustle.co/news/save-a-...
thehustle.co/news/save-a-...
WotD: "gazump". (Not new, just new to me) Of a seller, to accept a verbal offer to buy but then go with a higher bidder before the lower offer has closed.
Found in a story on Semafor about the possible Netflix-Warner deal.
Found in a story on Semafor about the possible Netflix-Warner deal.
December 9, 2025 at 10:59 PM
WotD: "gazump". (Not new, just new to me) Of a seller, to accept a verbal offer to buy but then go with a higher bidder before the lower offer has closed.
Found in a story on Semafor about the possible Netflix-Warner deal.
Found in a story on Semafor about the possible Netflix-Warner deal.
WotD: "polygloom" — " a heterogeneous complex, defying summation by a single causal logic, menacing, a whole that is worse than the sum of the parts."
adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-...
adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-...
Chartbook 463: Polygloom - What's wrong with Germany?
The winter is coming and Germany is engulfed in a gloomy fog.
adamtooze.substack.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:58 PM
WotD: "polygloom" — " a heterogeneous complex, defying summation by a single causal logic, menacing, a whole that is worse than the sum of the parts."
adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-...
adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-...
I'm hoping someone has done a study of naming trends for septic-tank cleaning businesses. Feels like an opportunity for the business owner to wax clever.
@fritinancy.bsky.social
@fritinancy.bsky.social
Sometimes you're just sitting in a meeting and the universe delivers a moment of pure joy.
December 5, 2025 at 3:47 PM
I'm hoping someone has done a study of naming trends for septic-tank cleaning businesses. Feels like an opportunity for the business owner to wax clever.
@fritinancy.bsky.social
@fritinancy.bsky.social
WotD: "LLeMing", someone who outsources their thinking to AI — "because they are always LLM-ing, but also because their near-constant AI use conjures images of cybernetic lemmings unable to act without guidance."
Used by Lila Shroff in The Atlantic, attributed to "a colleague".
archive.ph/JvX7Z
Used by Lila Shroff in The Atlantic, attributed to "a colleague".
archive.ph/JvX7Z
archive.ph
December 3, 2025 at 10:58 PM
WotD: "LLeMing", someone who outsources their thinking to AI — "because they are always LLM-ing, but also because their near-constant AI use conjures images of cybernetic lemmings unable to act without guidance."
Used by Lila Shroff in The Atlantic, attributed to "a colleague".
archive.ph/JvX7Z
Used by Lila Shroff in The Atlantic, attributed to "a colleague".
archive.ph/JvX7Z
WotD: "second-screen show" — "content optimized for casual viewing, meaning intentionally scripted for distracted viewers."
Not new (2022?) but new to me. Also called "ambient TV" (2020 or earlier).
theconversation.com/too-distract...
Not new (2022?) but new to me. Also called "ambient TV" (2020 or earlier).
theconversation.com/too-distract...
Too distracted to watch? Netflix has the perfect ‘second-screen’ show for you
Netflix knows you’re scrolling while you watch —and ‘second-screen shows’ are designed for the distracted viewer.
theconversation.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:01 PM
WotD: "second-screen show" — "content optimized for casual viewing, meaning intentionally scripted for distracted viewers."
Not new (2022?) but new to me. Also called "ambient TV" (2020 or earlier).
theconversation.com/too-distract...
Not new (2022?) but new to me. Also called "ambient TV" (2020 or earlier).
theconversation.com/too-distract...
WotY: "vibecession" -- when people feel like the economy is doing worse than the numbers suggest. From Kyla Scanlon
www.mercatus.org/macro-musing...
www.mercatus.org/macro-musing...
Kyla Scanlon on the “Vibecession”, the Vibe Economy, and the Path to Growing American Wealth
Kyla Scanlon is the founder of Bread, a financial education company where she brings economics to a wide and often
www.mercatus.org
November 16, 2025 at 7:51 PM
WotY: "vibecession" -- when people feel like the economy is doing worse than the numbers suggest. From Kyla Scanlon
www.mercatus.org/macro-musing...
www.mercatus.org/macro-musing...
