Nancy Friedman
@fritinancy.bsky.social
Name developer, writer, lapsed journalist, bay swimmer. Born in Los Angeles, semi-rooted in Oakland, California. “Queen of retail rabbit holes.” https://fritinancy.substack.com/
Pinned
Nancy Friedman
@fritinancy.bsky.social
· Nov 11
Interest is the most important thing in life; happiness is temporary, but interest is continuous. – Georgia O’Keeffe
It's Festivus, when we engage in Feats of Strength.
And so . . .
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/n...
And so . . .
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/n...
Need a Quick Boost in Physical Strength? Try Blurting Out Some Curse Words, a Study Suggests
When repeating four-letter words, participants held a challenging physical task for longer than when they said neutral words. Cursing seemed to help them feel more focused, more confident and less dis...
www.smithsonianmag.com
December 23, 2025 at 3:18 PM
It's Festivus, when we engage in Feats of Strength.
And so . . .
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/n...
And so . . .
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/n...
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
My new newsletter contains more than FIFTY Words of the Year from around the world.
Those won't be the final hashtag#WotY2025, but it is the final newsletter of the year!
lynneguist.substack.com/p/2025-words...
Those won't be the final hashtag#WotY2025, but it is the final newsletter of the year!
lynneguist.substack.com/p/2025-words...
2025 Words...so far
This time: Words of the Year and Links of the Month
lynneguist.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 7:52 PM
My new newsletter contains more than FIFTY Words of the Year from around the world.
Those won't be the final hashtag#WotY2025, but it is the final newsletter of the year!
lynneguist.substack.com/p/2025-words...
Those won't be the final hashtag#WotY2025, but it is the final newsletter of the year!
lynneguist.substack.com/p/2025-words...
"The practice of acronyming and nicknaming is now widespread, part of a general speeding up of speech: 'def,' 'rando,' 'preggers,' 'fomo,' 'homes,' 'GOAT.' Are these words? They function as words." - Louis Menand
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Is the Dictionary Done For?
The print edition of Merriam-Webster was once a touchstone of authority and stability. Then the internet brought about a revolution.
www.newyorker.com
December 22, 2025 at 8:07 PM
"The practice of acronyming and nicknaming is now widespread, part of a general speeding up of speech: 'def,' 'rando,' 'preggers,' 'fomo,' 'homes,' 'GOAT.' Are these words? They function as words." - Louis Menand
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
Holy %$##*%^&. A @newyorker.com essay by Louis Menand about my book
Is the Dictionary Done For?
The print edition of Merriam-Webster was once a touchstone of authority and stability. Then the internet brought about a revolution.
www.newyorker.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Holy %$##*%^&. A @newyorker.com essay by Louis Menand about my book
Hahaha!
Yes, I published something about "heritage Americans' today.
Yes, I published something about "heritage Americans' today.
I’m sorry but ‘heritage American’ makes you sound like a tomato
December 22, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Hahaha!
Yes, I published something about "heritage Americans' today.
Yes, I published something about "heritage Americans' today.
"Festive as fuck" gift bag, now marked down to $65.
It's colorful *and* bespoke!
www.wolfandbadger.com/us/festive-a...
It's colorful *and* bespoke!
www.wolfandbadger.com/us/festive-a...
Festive As Fuck Red & Pink Christmas Sack
Get ready to make Santa's night at your house even more special with our colourful and bespoke luxury striped Christmas sacks! Choose from a playful blue and green combo or a vibrant pink and red. The...
www.wolfandbadger.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:28 PM
"Festive as fuck" gift bag, now marked down to $65.
It's colorful *and* bespoke!
www.wolfandbadger.com/us/festive-a...
It's colorful *and* bespoke!
www.wolfandbadger.com/us/festive-a...
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
Betty Reid Soskin, the National Park Service’s oldest ranger, has died. She was 104.
Betty Reid Soskin, Oldest U.S. Park Ranger and Trailblazing Historian, Dies at 104 | KQED
Betty Reid Soskin, the nation’s oldest National Park Service ranger and a pioneering historian at Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park, devoted her life to preserving Black histo...
www.kqed.org
December 22, 2025 at 4:03 AM
Betty Reid Soskin, the National Park Service’s oldest ranger, has died. She was 104.
Tomorrow is Festivus, the holiday for the rest of us! Join me around the unadorned aluminum pole for the traditional Airing of Grievances.
fritinancy.substack.com/p/festivus-2...
fritinancy.substack.com/p/festivus-2...
Festivus 2025: The airing of grievances
I've got a lot of problems with you people!
fritinancy.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Tomorrow is Festivus, the holiday for the rest of us! Join me around the unadorned aluminum pole for the traditional Airing of Grievances.
fritinancy.substack.com/p/festivus-2...
fritinancy.substack.com/p/festivus-2...
Virgin Atlantic's current fare levels:
Economy Lite
Economy Classic
Economy Delight [sic]
Premium
Upper Class
Economy Lite
Economy Classic
Economy Delight [sic]
Premium
Upper Class
December 21, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Virgin Atlantic's current fare levels:
Economy Lite
Economy Classic
Economy Delight [sic]
Premium
Upper Class
Economy Lite
Economy Classic
Economy Delight [sic]
Premium
Upper Class
"swag gap"
WSJ reinventing “fashion sense” as a unique problem for Gen Z absolutely cracks me up.
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/re...
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/re...
December 20, 2025 at 11:43 PM
"swag gap"
Diåcritics göne wïld!
(At IT'SUGAR, a name that has always set my teeth on edge.)
(At IT'SUGAR, a name that has always set my teeth on edge.)
December 20, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Diåcritics göne wïld!
(At IT'SUGAR, a name that has always set my teeth on edge.)
(At IT'SUGAR, a name that has always set my teeth on edge.)
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
Random question but when did “making love” go from meaning “wooing” to fucking?
December 19, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Random question but when did “making love” go from meaning “wooing” to fucking?
"Even as the F-word has proliferated on smaller screens, a rule from the 1980s that limits its use in PG-13 movies has endured, influencing the way some filmmakers write, shoot and edit." | cc @stronglang.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The Filthy Word That Filmmakers Swear By (Gift Article)
How directors and writers striving for a PG-13 rating have learned to ration the use of a four-letter obscenity.
www.nytimes.com
December 20, 2025 at 1:18 AM
"Even as the F-word has proliferated on smaller screens, a rule from the 1980s that limits its use in PG-13 movies has endured, influencing the way some filmmakers write, shoot and edit." | cc @stronglang.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
"Psychologically, this group was marked by desensitization, shaped less by fear than by boredom. They were not especially anxious about their own futures. They worried more about what AI and automation might do to other people than to themselves." 1/
www.city-journal.org/article/manh...
www.city-journal.org/article/manh...
Everyone Wants to Know What Gen Z Republicans Think. We Asked Them.
Twenty GOP Zoomers on Trump, Hitler, dating, racism, politics, the economy, and more
www.city-journal.org
December 19, 2025 at 10:27 PM
"Psychologically, this group was marked by desensitization, shaped less by fear than by boredom. They were not especially anxious about their own futures. They worried more about what AI and automation might do to other people than to themselves." 1/
www.city-journal.org/article/manh...
www.city-journal.org/article/manh...
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
Yes, it’s illegal. Like changing it to Department of War, like ten thousand other things. Part of the Trump strategy is to break the law and convey “the rule of law is weak and feminine and laughable and should be overridden by Our Guy.” Trump is fundamentally anti-law.
/1
/1
NEWS: They're adding Trump's name to the Kennedy Center building right now. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Kennedy Center adds Trump’s name to building
The signage change follows a vote by the board of trustees to rename the performing arts complex the Trump Kennedy Center.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Yes, it’s illegal. Like changing it to Department of War, like ten thousand other things. Part of the Trump strategy is to break the law and convey “the rule of law is weak and feminine and laughable and should be overridden by Our Guy.” Trump is fundamentally anti-law.
/1
/1
From Kehlani to Mamdani and Ohtani!
Many thanks! I'm fascinated by your "ani" connection, which happens to also be one of the biggest baby name phenomena in years: bit.ly/ani-baby-names
The Surprising Celebrity Who Changed American Baby Names
Baby names have their own star system, and it’s all about sound and style.
bit.ly
December 19, 2025 at 7:29 PM
From Kehlani to Mamdani and Ohtani!
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
The White House claims the vote to rename the Kennedy Center was “unanimous.” That is false. I was muted on the call and denied the opportunity to speak or register my opposition. That is not consensus. That is censorship.
December 18, 2025 at 7:42 PM
The White House claims the vote to rename the Kennedy Center was “unanimous.” That is false. I was muted on the call and denied the opportunity to speak or register my opposition. That is not consensus. That is censorship.
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
FTA: @fritinancy.bsky.social talks about fcuking branding stronglang.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/w...
What the not-quite-fuck?
How the fuck did what the fuck become acceptable — nay, desirable — as a template for business names and ad campaigns? The obvious rhymes, the winking allusions, the no-apologies acronyms: It’s a W…
stronglang.wordpress.com
December 19, 2025 at 4:31 PM
FTA: @fritinancy.bsky.social talks about fcuking branding stronglang.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/w...
G.T.F.O. Tours is "a relocation service that helps aggrieved U.S. citizens start new lives abroad." The initialism stands for exactly what you think it does.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
How to Leave the U.S.A.
In the wake of President Trump’s reëlection, the number of aggrieved Americans seeking a new life abroad appears to be rising. The Netherlands offers one way out.
www.newyorker.com
December 19, 2025 at 4:04 PM
G.T.F.O. Tours is "a relocation service that helps aggrieved U.S. citizens start new lives abroad." The initialism stands for exactly what you think it does.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
"We here at Bank of America remember a time when a woman couldn't get a credit card without her husband's approval. Wouldn't that be fun again?"
"Has feminism failed women brought to you by bank of america" is my MKULTRA sleeper agent activation phrase
December 19, 2025 at 3:33 PM
"We here at Bank of America remember a time when a woman couldn't get a credit card without her husband's approval. Wouldn't that be fun again?"
My year-end postapalooza continues with my names of the year for 2025.
fritinancy.substack.com/p/names-of-t...
fritinancy.substack.com/p/names-of-t...
Names of the year 2025
An AI name, two -ANI names, a KitKat, and some poor naming choices.
fritinancy.substack.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:25 PM
My year-end postapalooza continues with my names of the year for 2025.
fritinancy.substack.com/p/names-of-t...
fritinancy.substack.com/p/names-of-t...
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
This thread made me laugh repeatedly.
I once heard a cutting assessment of someone’s intellect in Argentinian Spanish that went jugas al tetris y giras el cuadradito. It means “you spin the square tile on Tetris.”
December 19, 2025 at 2:40 PM
This thread made me laugh repeatedly.
My words of the year for 2025. | ht @grammargirl.bsky.social @mashedradish.bsky.social @lanegreene.bsky.social @americandialect.org @akalhan.bsky.social @junecasagrande.bsky.social @merriam-webster.com @techdirt.com
fritinancy.substack.com/p/words-of-t... #woty2025 #woty
fritinancy.substack.com/p/words-of-t... #woty2025 #woty
Words of the year 2025: Fritinancy edition
How we languaged this year.
fritinancy.substack.com
December 18, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Reposted by Nancy Friedman
Merry Christmas! It's the Hater's Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog! defector.com/the-2025-hat...
The 2025 Hater’s Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog | Defector
[Opens front door while holding a toy corgi in one arm] Merry Christmas! Oh my God, you made it! I thought you might be stuck at the airport for weeks! Well, because it’s such madness out there. Piper...
defector.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Merry Christmas! It's the Hater's Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog! defector.com/the-2025-hat...
December 17, 2025 at 3:45 PM