Lexical Compendium

Surprise Me

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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"Mice lie and monkeys exaggerate."

Mice lie and monkeys exaggerate.

-- David B. Weiner, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Chair, Gene Therapy and Vaccine Program, CAMB Co-Leader Tumor Virology Program, Abramson Cancer Program University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine

Dr. Weiner coined this aphorism while musing on the use of NHP (nonhuman primates) in HIV vaccines studies at a conference in 2008. In essence, animal models aren't necessarily predictive of how drugs will work in humans.

The phrase is often used in research papers and by science journalists. I can't recall where I first heard it, but I thought of it recently when a friend shared a blurb about how rapamycin is purported to have anti-aging benefits in humans. Though there is no evidence for this in humans, there have been studies with the drug on mice that have found that they live ~12% longer.


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References:

  1. Transient rapamycin treatment can increase lifespan and healthspan in middle-aged mice
  2. Of Mice and Mike—An Underappreciated Ebola Virus Disease Model May Have Paved the Road for Future Filovirology
  3. Swine as biomedical animal model for T-cell research...
  4. Twitter: @justsaysinmice - tweets about scientific and news articles about medical results, IN MICE
  5. Bluesky: @inmice.bsky.social - posts about scientific and news articles about medical results, IN MICE
  6. AIDS vaccine researchers STEP up to the challenge

Tags: quote , aphorism , idiom

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milquetoast

The word milquetoast is used to describe a meek or timid person.

It originated from the comic strip character Caspar Milquetoast, created by Harold T. Webster in 1924. The character was known for his timidity and refusal to participate in controversial discussions. Some time after the character's debut, the term "milquetoast" began to be used to describe people with similar characteristics.

Caspar's last name is derived from "milk toast," a breakfast food that was thought to be easy to digest and was a popular food for convalescents in New England (USA) in the 19th and early 20th century.


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References:

  1. Definition: Milquetoast
  2. Wikipedia: Caspar Milquetoast
  3. Wikipedia: Milk Toast

Tags: slang , vocabulary , eponymous

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mondo dismo

What is a mondo dismo? Well, it's a man who takes money from stranded women.

From the movie Romancing the Stone:

Joan: You're a mondo dismo

Jack: l'm... what am l? l'm what?

Joan: You're a man who takes money from stranded women


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References:

  1. IMDB: Romancing the Stone

Tags: movie , nonsense , quote

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neologism

A neologism is a newly coined word or expression.


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References:

  1. Definition: neologism

Tags: vocabulary

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no tener pelos en la lengua

This Spanish idiom literally translates to "to not have hairs on the tongue." The idiom is used to refer to someone who is outspoken, i.e. does not mince words.

For example:

No me gustó su pintura y le dije; yo no tenia pelos en la lengua.: I didn't like his painting and I told him so; I didn't mince words.

Interestingly, this idiom also exists in other languages. It means roughly the same thing in Italian, Welsh, and Croatian

The concept also exists in Greek and Turkish where it means "I'm tired of repeating myself."

While walking down the street, I heard two people talking about this idiom and it compelled me to research it. Idioms are great, aren't they?


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References:

  1. Greek idiom "my tongue has grown hair"
  2. Definition: no tener pelos en la lengua
  3. Podcast: A Way With Words - The Idiom to Have Hair on Your Tongue

Tags: foreign , language , spanish , idiom

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"Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds"

An English translation of a line from The Bhagavad Gita, written in Sanskrit. A more accurate translation is "Time I am, destroyer of the worlds..."

I first encountered this expression in the late 90s on the CAKE BBS. It appears many times in popular culture:

  • Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer
  • Bolivar in s01e07 of Xmen '97
  • Captain Ramius' diary in Hunt for Red October
  • Caleb Smith in Ex Machina

And probably many more.


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References:

  1. IMDB: Ex Machina
  2. Bhagavad Gita
  3. IMDB: Oppenheimer
  4. IMDB: X-Men '97
  5. IMDB: The Hunt for Red October

Tags: hindu , shiva , krishna

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orthosomnia

Orthosomnia is an obsession with getting "perfect" sleep. The word was coined in a 2017 article in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine titled Orthosomnia: Are Some Patients Taking the Quantified Self Too Far?

We termed this condition “orthosomnia,” with “ortho” meaning straight or correct, and “somnia” meaning sleep, because patients are preoccupied or concerned with improving or perfecting their wearable sleep data. We chose this term because the perfectionist quest to achieve perfect sleep is similar to the unhealthy preoccupation with healthy eating, termed orthorexia.

I first encountered this term while listening to an episode of The Guardian's Science Weekly podcast called Is sleep perfectionism making us more exhausted?


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References:

  1. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine; Volume 13, Issue 02
  2. Science Weekly: Is sleep perfectionism making us more exhausted?
  3. Wikipedia: Orthosomnia

Tags: vocabulary , podcast

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Overton window

The Overton window is the range of topics that are considered acceptable or "mainstream" at a point in time. The term is used in political discourse and it implies that politicians can only advocate for policies within this window without risking their careers.

The window can shift: ideas that were once fringe (i.e. like women’s suffrage) can move into the window as social norms evolve. Conversely, ideas that were once mainstream can fall out of favor and become politically toxic.

The term is named after Joseph Overton, a vice president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy (1992-2003). To help with his fund-raising duties he designed a brochure describing what eventually became known as the Overton window. His view was that think tanks should be pushing policies that fall outside the window and help to shift the window.

When listening to policy wonks debate politics, this term seems to come up quite a bit.


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References:

  1. Wikipedia: Overton window
  2. Wikipedia: Joseph Overton
  3. Mackinac Center Blog: What is the Overton Window?
  4. Tweet: @elonmusk 20 Mar 2025 - That fresh breeze you feel is the wide open Overton Window

Tags: eponymous , politics , vocabulary , podcast

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Pale Blue Dot

The "pale blue dot" is how Carl Sagan described the Earth as seen in a photograph taken by Voyager 1 in 1990 (the last picture of the Earth it took as it continued to leave the solar system).


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References:

  1. Wikipedia: Pale Blue Dot

Tags: carl_sagan , earth , space

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p(doom)

p(doom) stands for "probability of doom" and is a term used when talking about AGI.


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References:

  1. Wikipedia: p(doom)
  2. NYT: Silicon Valley Confronts a Grim New A.I. Metric
  3. Fast Company: P(doom) is AI’s latest apocalypse metric. Here’s how to calculate your score

Tags: ai , computer-science

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