by Ashley Austrew What is a possible hate crime? A possible sexual assault? A possible terrorist attack? Crime-related news is often reported in the media using tentative language—like the word possible—that makes it seem as if there is room for doubt as to whether or not a crime was actually committed. But in many instances, either through video, photos, or the victim’s own words and evidence, it …
Self-own spread on social media, of course To understand what self-own really means, we must know the meaning of the slang term own. To own someone is “to ridicule, embarrass, or defeat them,” a sense of the word ultimately dating back to the 1910s! In a timeless example, Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) repeatedly owns incompetent burglars in the first two Home Alone movies. We can now imagine what a …
by Ashley Austrew What makes someone an expert? In the days of the internet, it seems like it’s gotten much harder to tell. Social media and the instant expert Social media makes it possible for anyone to have a platform, and that’s given rise to the phenomenon known as the instant expert. These self-appointed authorities on everything from federal policy to last night’s episode of This Is …
Sure, the Super Bowl is one of the biggest sporting events in the world, (World Cup fans, feel free to weigh in here) and an unofficial national holiday in the United States. But, do you know how the Super Bowl got its name? Or why it uses Roman numerals? How did the Super Bowl get its name? In the 1960s, American pro football was divided …
Chi Town, The Big Onion, The Windy City. Call it what you will, Chicago is home to a herd of sports teams that could fill a zoo—the Cubs, the Bears, and the Bulls (and, oh yeah, the White Sox too). Not to mention it’s the land of deep-dish pizza and Chicago-style hot dogs. It’s a fantastic city filled with museums, shopping, and industry. This midwestern …
Most people have fairly rigid ideas about what words mean, but the thing about language is that it’s constantly changing. Words that mean one thing today may expand in definition over the coming decades or come to mean the complete opposite of their current definition once a few hundred more years pass. Sometimes, words even change meanings entirely, leaving behind little trace of what they …
by Taneesh Khera When you picture a wave, what do you think of? I bet you see a body of water, possibly a lake, but more likely an ocean. A shore might come to mind, as would sand and beaches, and maybe a surfer or a boat or ship. Another possibility, not altogether different, is a hand saying hello, waving goodbye. If you consume much …
by Ashley Austrew Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been in office for less than a month, and already she’s been the subject of controversy on multiple occasions. First, she was reportedly booed in Congress while voting to elect Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the house. Then, she was targeted by the leak of the now-infamous recording of her dancing in college. And most recently, Ocasio-Cortez made headlines for …
