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Taylor Swift's use of the term "eras" to define periods in her career has become popular among social media users. People are now using the term to describe different stages in their own lives, such as a "healing era" or a "villain era." The word "era" has a long history, originating from the Latin word "aera" which referred to bronze counters used for calculations. It later came to be used for historical periods and eventually for stages in a person's life. The recent trend of personalizing "eras" may have started with the phrase "flop era" to describe a fallow period in someone's life. Die-hard fans of Taylor Swift often emulate each of her albums as its own "era." [Extracted from the article]

The article explores the different interpretations of the phrase "out of pocket" across different generations. For millennials and older individuals, it typically means being away from work and unavailable. However, for members of Gen Z, it can imply acting chaotically or inappropriately. The article highlights a viral TikTok video that showcases the cross-generational confusion surrounding the phrase. It also delves into the historical origins of "out of pocket," which originally referred to using one's own personal funds and later evolved to mean being financially strapped. Additionally, the article discusses how the meaning of "unavailable" or "out of reach" has been present since the early 20th century, particularly in Southern dialects. The article also touches on the appropriation of the phrase in hip-hop culture and emphasizes the importance of considering situational context and multiple meanings in language. [Extracted from the article]

The term "kayfabe," originally used in professional wrestling, has recently entered mainstream usage to describe political theater and playacting. Merriam-Webster defines "kayfabe" as the agreement between wrestlers and their fans to pretend that staged events are genuine. The origins of the term are uncertain, with theories suggesting it may have derived from pig Latin or old carnival lingo. While maintaining kayfabe was once crucial in wrestling, the rise of neokayfabe blurs the line between fact and fiction, as storylines extend beyond the ring. [Extracted from the article]

DENIZENS of the Twitter-verse, please be advised: Whether you are a Libyan celebrating the demise of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, a New Zealand office worker sleepily starting your day or a [...]

Ben Zimmer, a former On Language columnist for The New York Times Magazine, is the executive producer of VisualThesaurus.com and Vocabulary.com. IMAGINE, if you will, a young Mark Zuckerberg circa [...]

When tech companies engage in legal squabbles about who gets to use our everyday words, what are ordinary speakers of the language to make of it all? Microsoft is suing [...]

How do you tell a dictator to get lost? The answer, in Egypt, was with poetry, tech lingo, hieroglyphics and more. For weeks, in Tahrir Square and elsewhere, demonstrators were [...]

"Goblin Mode": A State of Not Caring What Other People Think A viral phrase for slovenly behavior is a timely candidate for Word of the Year. [Extracted from the article]