NTMP 114: Mac and Cheese Research
Baby, you can ride my Pinis
New-To-Me Phrases, June 23, 2024
Treason weasel * Crust research * Macaroni and cheese daylilies * Anemoia * ‘Sletter * Semiquincentennial * Pinis
The Phrases, With Context
This week we have crusty science, foodie flowers, more than one recently-coined word, and more. In other news, I would like to offer my eternal gratitude to whomever made air conditioning possible.
Let’s get to it!
1. Treason weasel
A friend I hadn’t communicated with in months texted me recently:
No other correspondence took place, or was needed.
Conclusion: My friends rule.
I like the assonance of this phrase. In addition to being apt, it flows.
2. Crust research
Why is this phrase so funny? I don’t know but we’re rolling with it. (Pun intended.)
It comes from a fascinating and beautifully designed NYT article from 2018, which is how far back my saved articles go in Instapaper. I try to catch up with stuff I’ve saved each week but because I want to read all of the things and subscribe to too many things, the struggle is real.
In this article, the crust researcher in question is Dr. Peter B. Kelemen, a geologist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, has been studying rocks in Oman for over 20 years. Dr. Kelemen and other researchers believe certain rocks there have unique properties that could dampen the effects of the climate crisis by removing carbon dioxide from the air. It’s a great, chewy read. Another intentional pun. I’ll see myself out.
3. Macaroni and cheese daylilies
My Hag friend Kathleen used this name for these ubiquitous orange-yellow suburban standbys and my life is changed forever for the better. Hopefully yours is, too.
4. Anemoia
I found this word via Brendan Leonard’s Semi-Rad Friday Inspiration newsletter, a fun roundup that always includes interesting and often funny stuff.
A recent edition linked to a Substack that looks extremely on point for NTMP readers,
(immediate subscribe) who wrote about the return of the Automat:I never stepped inside a Horn & Hardart Automat, that fabled urban precursor to fast-food restaurants that stirs nostalgia in those who remember the chain and “anemoia” — nostalgia for that which you never experienced — in so many others, myself included.
I’d never heard of Automats so it was interesting to learn about them.
Searching for the origins of the word anemoia, the top result aside from a dismissible Wiktionary entry appeared in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. Created by John Koenig, the site appears to have been abandoned a couple of years ago after the writer’s book of the same name made the NYT bestsellers list.
Next, I searched for the etymology of anemoia and found this Guardian article about the value of made-up words that cites The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.
That Guardian piece uses the stellar word fictionary to describe ‘a resource or compendium of fabricated words and definitions.’ And The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a fictionary!
So it appears that anemoia is a word that feels legit but never really existed before that describes a longing for an era that feels familiar but that we never actually experienced. 🤯
5. ‘Sletter
Saw this word in the wild as short for “newsletter” and I would like to vote an immediate and enthusiastic NO! on it. Like, a “FUCK, NO! (!!!!!!!!!)” vote. This one almost matches my acidic hatred for nabe as shorthand for neighborhood. Almost.
6. Semiquincentennial
I sort of love weird numeric designations but they are often inscrutable to me, rather like trying to date a poet who smokes clove cigarettes in college. I remember the sesquicentennial (150-year) celebration of my town’s 1852 founding in 2002, where the city designed a commemorative park with a fountain that’s honestly not much bigger than the Smallest Park in Pawnee from Parks and Rec.
But a semiquincentennial (250-year) celebration was new-to-me, via this thoughtful essay in Esquire about how it feels to fly the American flag when you’re a liberal-leaning historian. In that piece, the author notes that 2026 will mark the 250th year since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
According to Wikipedia, alternate names for semiquincentennial include: Bisesquincentennial, the Sestercentennial or the Quarter Millennial. I did a bit of research into how these terms are developed, but so much of it gave me wedding anniversary info. A search for commemorative anniversary nomenclature etymology (there’s a phrase for you!) didn’t turn up much, but what little I could find seems to indicate that these terms largely originated in the U.S. in the modern era.
According to Merriam-Webster,
Centennial dates only to the 18th century, and was formed from the Latin word for “one hundred,” centum, with the -ennial suffix derived from the Latin annus meaning “year” and also seen in words such as biennial, millennial, and perennial.
None of the words listed above for a 250-year anniversary appear in Merriam-Webster. While these words feel old, they really aren’t; it looks like nerds in academia are making up these terms for centuries-old commemorative dates. Anemoia vibes in word form.
7. Pinis
This edition opened with a friend texting me a phrase and it’s closing with a phrase sent by my pal Tom, who tagged me in our personal Slack group—like sending up the Bat-Signal12 but not as cool. I don’t have a butler, can’t use a grappling hook, and I fight words instead of crime, though I do sometimes wish I lived in a cave.
You might be asking, “But what does the phrase mean, Toni?”
Rattan, a Chinese electric bike manufacturer, named its latest bike the Pinis, and boy did this writer at electrek have fun with that:
Rattan, a long-time player now seeing increased penetration in the entry-level e-bike market, has rolled out new electric bicycle models for the 2024 riding season. . . That’s right, it’s time to check out the company’s latest small format 20″ folding e-bike. Say “Hello” to Rattan’s new Pinus.
And the pièce de résistance:
Though ultimately, what’s in a name? Wouldn’t a Pinus by any other name ride as well?
Beep-beep beep-beep yeah!
That’s it for this week! Remember to keep making it weird, and say furiously curious.
Here’s an article from Men’s Health about how some nerds built a working Bat-Signal. 🦇
Wikipedia and other sources hyphenate Bat-Signal, but Men’s Health did not. 🤓
I concur with your immediate hatred and rejection of 'sletter.