Lexical Compendium

Wait... what is this? Sometimes I come across a word, phrase, idiom, quote, reference, bit of slang, person of interest, etc that either I don't know or I find amusing, interesting, etc. This is a collection of those items so that I can refer back to them in emails, texts, etc.

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spoonerism

A spoonerism is a slip-up in speech in which the person talking transposes the first part of two words. For example, saying "shake a tower" instead of "take a shower." The word is named after Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930) who, apparently, this happened to often.

I came across this while listening to an episode of The Allusionist which discussed an old puzzle novel called "Cain's Jawbone." Among the many word-based challenges in this puzzle novel are spoonerisms which the player must identify in order to put the pages in the right order.


(link to this entry)

References:

  1. Definition: spoonerism
  2. Podcast: The Allusionist - Episode 195: Word Play 5: 100 Pages of Solvitude
  3. Wikipedia: Spoonerism

Tags: vocabulary , podcast , eponymous

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trial balloon

A trial balloon is a metaphorical term describing a tentative action or statement meant to test reactions or explore possibilities before committing to a course of action. It's often used in diplomacy, politics, and awkward social situations, where one wants to gauge sentiment or diffuse tension without directly confronting the issue.

The phrase originates from the early days of hot-air ballooning in the late 18th century. British aeronauts would send up small, unmanned balloons as trial balloons to assess weather conditions, wind direction, and other factors before launching a manned flight. By the mid-19th century, the term was being used figuratively, particularly in politics, where governments or individuals would "float" proposals through unofficial channels to gauge public opinion before formally committing. Over time, it came to describe any cautious, preliminary step taken to assess outcomes.

I first heard this term in an interview with Bill Hader on the Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (sometimes) podcast. Hader shared a story about embarrassing himself by badmouthing a movie to someone who starred in it. To mend the social faux pas, he waited an hour and floated a trial balloon by saying, "Um, hey, they’re grilling some chicken over there."

He shared this awkward story with Larry David, who, of course, loved it -- particularly the hilariously ineffectual nature of the "trial balloon" attempt -- and encouraged him to repeat it often.


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References:

  1. Definition: trial balloon
  2. Podcast: Where Everyone Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (sometimes), - Bill Hader
  3. Wikipedia: Trial Balloon

Tags: vocabulary , podcast , metaphor

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vibecoding

Vibecoding (also vibe coding) is the act of developing software by purely defining a project and letting AI do the work.

The term was popularized earlier this year (in 2025) by OpenAI founding member Andrej Karpathy. It has since taken off and I hear it everywhere.

The NYT's Kevin Roose wrote an article on his experience with vibecoding and also covered it in an episode of Hard Fork.

Update May 2025: added Freethink's piece about the technical and cultural shift happening around vibecoding.


(link to this entry)

References:

  1. Wikipedia: vibe coding
  2. NYT: Not a Coder? With A.I., Just Having an Idea Can Be Enough
  3. Tweet: @karpathy 02 Feb 2025 - @karpathy's tweet about "vibe coding"
  4. Hard Fork: Is Google Search Cooked? + We're Getting a U.S. Crypto Reserve? + What You're Vibecoding
  5. Freethink: Vibe coding is rewriting the rules of technology

Tags: slang , ai , podcast , software , netspeak

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