iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Simon Koppel @simonkoppel.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

The incomparable @misterslang.bsky.social, who I would trust over "the internet etymology overlords" every time, has "fugly" as adjective from 1969 and verb from 1970 greensdictofslang.com/search/basic...

greensdictofslang.com

Basic Search — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

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Simon Koppel @simonkoppel.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Definitely earlier than 1995. Here it is from 1979. "I learned later that was a combination of a bad word and 'ugly'" cdnc.ucr.edu?a=d&d=CVSN19...

cdnc.ucr.edu

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Simon Koppel @simonkoppel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Yes, and you obviously very deliberately used cot/caught as one of your examples. In my accent I'd be highly unlikely to make that error as they sound very different.

Both the Oxford English Dictionary and @merriam-webster.com have it as "hon", though OED accepts "hun" as a variant spelling. Personally I would find "hun" more natural and might struggle to parse "hon", but I am British - a native speaker of American English may feel differently.

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Reposted by Simon Koppel

digitalpublications.beloit.edu

I always challenge myself to find an antedating for at least one newly-added word in each OED release. Here's "campuser" from 1929, five years earlier than OED's current entry. digitalpublications.beloit.edu?a=d&d=ROT192...

Katherine Connor Martin @kconnormartin.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Reposted by Simon Koppel

The OED's latest update added an entry for "bothsidesism". As is often the case, it proves to be older than I expected (1964). More of the new additions are discussed here: www.oed.com/discover/new...

Screenshot of an Oxford English Dictionary entry for the noun “bothsidesism.” The “Meaning & use” tab is selected. The definition reads: “The practice of treating opposing positions as equally valid, credible, or widely held, or of attributing equal responsibility to both parties in a conflict, despite clear evidential or moral grounds favouring one side,” often arising from an attempt to maintain the appearance of impartiality. Below the definition is a timeline of quotation evidence from 1964, 1979, 1995, and 2023 showing historical uses of the term in publications including Christian Century, Newsweek, MetroWest Jewish News, and the Montreal Gazette.

And I'm less certain that the meaning is identical, but potentially here it is from 1919. cdnc.ucr.edu?a=d&d=OT1918...

cdnc.ucr.edu

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digitalpublications.beloit.edu

Simon Koppel @simonkoppel.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Placing a bet doesn't replace arguing, if the reason for having the argument is to elicit change. If I believed (I don't) that on the present course AI will destroy humanity next year, winning a bet is irrelevant, but winning the argument might lead to policy changes that prevent that outcome.

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Simon Koppel @simonkoppel.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

To quote from the incomparable The Good Place: Jason: So you are saying wanting to do something isn't a good reason to immediately do it? Michael: Yeah. Jason: I wish someone had taught me this on Earth. Michael: People tried; mostly judges.

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Reposted by Simon Koppel

The Quiz League of London @quizleagueoflondon.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Registration is now open for Brain of London 2027, the QLL's individual competition. Qualifiers take place through October and November, and you don't have to be on a QLL team to compete in BoL. For more details and to register, see quizleagueoflondon.co.uk/competitions...

quizleagueoflondon.co.uk

Brain of London

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Simon Koppel @simonkoppel.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Ah, but that's for all those other chumps. Clearly I'm smart enough to outperform the market! /s

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Simon Koppel @simonkoppel.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

This appears to be construction specifically for manufacturing, so building a data center would not be included. Building a factory to make microchips would be - but of course, very little of that is happening in the U.S.

thecatholicnewsarchive.org

"core memory" may have been independently coined for "Inside Out" , and I don't doubt that most modern references trace back to that, but it can be found earlier. Here it is with a very similar meaning from 1995 www.thecatholicnewsarchive.org?a=d&d=SLR199...

How about "cone of shame"? I've seen people swear they used it before the movie "Up" but I've never seen any evidence.

I got very excited finding numerous references to "Debbie Downer" in newspapers from the 1950s and 1970s, and then realised they were all just mentions of real people with that name (who presumably, if they're still around, go by Deborah or Debs these days if they want to avoid endless jokes).

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I feel like this person is getting Padel and Pickleball mixed up. It's all right, every quizzer has done that at some point.

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Simon Koppel @simonkoppel.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

You load sixteen tons, what do you get Another day older and deep in Raclette Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go I owe my soul to a Brie de Meaux

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It's very far from being there yet but Cornish is giving it a good go.

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Simon Koppel @simonkoppel.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Appointed to the Diplomatic Service in 1974 www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue...

thegazette.co.uk

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Simon Koppel @simonkoppel.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

God, no, he'd love to have a bunch of prisons named after him - 50 more places to "LOCK HER UP!" How about "The Donald Trump Sewage Works" instead?

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Simon Koppel @simonkoppel.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

So, like 3d movies? (Although with movies the hype carousel is more like 25 to 30 years – expect to see it come around again around 2040, if Hollywood still exists by then)

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Simon Koppel @simonkoppel.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Which she knitted herself, according to her LinkedIn post about this

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Simon Koppel @simonkoppel.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

"He's got to be out of my house for a few days while showings are happening". Or, hear me out here, staying in your house prominently displayed. Between two houses which are otherwise identical but one of which contains a cool skeleton, I know which I'd buy!

Rat Fascal @mrpsb.uk · 17/08/2026

Reposted by Simon Koppel

I’m here to chew gum and study grammar and I’m gumn’t

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Simon Koppel @simonkoppel.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

My only touchpoint for this is Chicken Supreme, which is cooked in mushrooms, white wine and mushrooms. I don't know that I've ever heard "supreme" in any other food context. Is this a British/American difference?

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And of course that links the the Wikipedia article on "Toilet-related injuries and deaths" and ultimately therefore to the German submarine U-1206 and its rather unfortunate commander.

Quick question. That line has always sounded odd to me. In British English, we'd never say, "what a savings". It would be either "what savings", or "what a saving". Does it sound natural to an American?

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The perfect joke doesn't exis....

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Simon Koppel @simonkoppel.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Rickman loved the movie - his *character* was bored out of his mind.

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If you, like us, are heading to the Padel at Olympia, be aware that despite what your tickets say, the doors don't open till 12, and the first match isn't till 2.00

Simon Koppel @simonkoppel.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

One of my favourite historical oddities - Victorian newspapers were full of the risks of slipping on banana peel. Sorry, did I say banana? I meant, of course, slipping on "orange" peel. historyofpublicspace.uk/2019/04/29/o...

historyofpublicspace.uk

orange peel – contested commons