NTMP 139: Cup Shitto
Join the butter butt collective
New-To-Me Phrases, May 25, 2025
Numeronym * Dime store Prometheans * Collective effervescence * Shrettuce * Butter butt * The Tone Zone * Glup Shitto
The Phrases, With Context
Yesterday, we hosted our annual Memorial Day BBQ and had perfect sunny weather and excellent company. One friend brought cannoli dip (!!!!!) that’s basically deconstructed cannoli—think chips and queso, but sweet. As someone who had a wedding cake with cannoli filling, this made my day.
Now that I think of it, “cannoli dip” is a new-to-me phrase, so there’s a bonus for you.
In this edition, we have foodie and wordy phrases, some very good Star Wars stuff, our usual assortment of bird references, and more.
Let’s get to it!
But first: April poll results!
I may have clicked on my fave and it shows, and Substack polls don’t allow take-backs. SLUT BUS won by a lot even without my vote, with land beaver and Apartheid Clyde making impressive showings. And I’m sorry but old baby is very funny and someone should’ve chosen it at least once.
Anyway, it’s time for phrases—let’s get to it!
1. Numeronym
This is one of those things you’ve probably seen but didn’t know it had a name. Or maybe you did and you’re not an uncultured rube like me. A numeronym is a word, usually an abbreviation of some sort, that contains numbers. So the TV show NUMB3RS is a numernym; nice. As is A11y, which is short for “accessibility” in digital accessibility circles, which also makes a nice visual reference to being an ally. K9, b4, etc.—all numeronyms.
Here’s a numeronym generator you can play around with. FYI fart becomes f2t and numeronym is n7m.
Share your funniest numeronym in the comments:
2. Dime store Prometheans
This phrase comes from a terrific essay by
in The White Pages called “You haven’t actually failed” - the subhead is “You’ve just been lied to by someone who wants to sell you something.”It’s a great read and I suggest you check it out:
He cites several articles about why “friction” is necessary to our growth and ability to coexist, and how the current iteration of tech bros is trying to tell us that a frictionless life is the ideal.
The phrase I pulled from it is from the intro, but the whole piece is worth checking out:
The entirety of human history is lousy with dime store Prometheans creating something unnatural and assuring us, a glint in their eyes, that we now can’t live without it.
I submit that Sam Altman of Open AI is a dime-store Promethean disguised as a billionaire. Not a particularly original thought but one I endorse.
On the opposite end of that spectrum, Garrett Bucks hosts free Barnraisers Project events focused on community building and organizing. To say these meetups have changed my life is an understatement. After the election, a “what do we do now?” event gave me hope that people coming together can make a difference. It inspired me to reach out to local pals to see how we can come together to do good things in our community and beyond. And several said hell yes! We meet this week to start making good trouble.
Sign up for the interest list to attend an upcoming Barnraisers cohort here.
3. Collective effervescence
I first encountered this phrase on the “If Books Could Kill” podcast that delved into “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt. My biggest takeaway was that the issue of whether social media is making teens anxious is complicated—more complicated than the book makes it seem. The hosts do a good job of exploring the nuances of this subject while also being extremely funny.
This link has show notes and a transcript if listening isn’t your thing.
Anyway, the hosts discussed the concept of collective effervescence and I found a definition in a review of research via NIH:
[A] state of intense shared emotional activation and sense of unison that emerges during instances of collective behavior, like demonstrations, rituals, ceremonies, celebrations, and others
This actually explains why I tear up during large events like graduations or parades! I did not know that was a more universal thing. Isn’t it funny how we can go around for years thinking we’re the only ones and absolute weirdos at that, only to find that others share your experience? Haidt claims the internet doesn’t allow for collective effervescence but the hosts disagreed, and so do I. Their biggest example cited was the reactions from liberals on social when Trump got COVID, LOL.
4. Shrettuce
I spotted this on a Nashville sandwich shop menu my friend Randal shared and immediately knew what it was. I love a good portmanteau! Of COURSE shredded lettuce is shrettuce. It feels like we knew it all along.
5. Butter butt
This phrase comes from one of my favorite IG accounts, wiscobirder. I love his enthusiasm, his ability to gather people to go birdwatching, and his advocacy for Black birders claiming space in wild places and in a typically white-coded hobby.
In this post, he’s looking to spot a yellow-rumped warbler but the post is captioned “Who wants to help me find the Butter Butt?” and honestly, who wouldn’t? You ready? Let’s go!
6. The Tone Zone
If you know me, you know I am obsessed—OBSESSED—with the show Andor, a prequel to the Star Wars movie Rogue One, which is itself a prequel to A New Hope. It’s one of the best written shows I’ve ever seen, easily now in my top five of all time, and I don’t think you need to be a Star Wars fan to appreciate it. If you want brilliant writing, gorgeous set and costume design, and to see common people taking small actions to take down a fascist empire, this is your show. It’s extremely well-done and tragically timely.
The phrase The Tone Zone comes from the X-Ray Vision podcast, co-hosted by my favorite Game of Thrones nerd, Jason Concepcion and comics and sci-fi writer Rosie Knight. The Tone Zone is a reference to showrunner and writer Tony Gilroy. Join me in The Tone Zone! Watch! This! Show!
7. Glup Shitto
This might be one of my absolute favorite phrases of all time. You may not be surprised to learn that our family group chat is 95% bird-related content—”look at our pet bird being cute,” etc. x 1,000,000. My youngest recently posted a photo of our African grey parrot Cuppy existing and captioned it Glup shitto.
When I was done howling with laughter, she explained that it’s a running joke about the seeming randomness of Star Wars character names. I am definitely an enthusiastic-but-casual Star Wars fan, so of course I didn’t know this one. Someone even created a fake Glup Shitto bio on a wiki, revealing yet again that the internet isn’t all bad. I’ve always loved the names in Star Wars movies and shows - Kino Loy, Han Solo, Jyn Erso, etc. I guess you can generate a Star Wars character name by reversing the first letter in two-word food names: Beak Sturrito. Tish Facos. Sasta Palad. lol
Bonus Bits
1. Best playdate ever?
The world’s tallest and shortest dogs met for a playdate. I cannot. I. Can. Not. with how cute this is. Relatedly, a couple of weeks ago I started wondering how tall our pets are. I know with animals it’s more about length, but how might one superimpose humanlike standards to measure the height of a bird? And is that top of head to tip of tail or bottom of feet? That gives long-tailed birds an unfair advantage. Let me tell you, measuring a bird is not easy! Our axolotl, Mimi, is very short. How tall are fish? I estimate that our parrot cichlid, Al Carpone, is about 1.5” tall but he’s scared of me so I couldn’t get near the tank with the tape measure.
How tall are your pets? Go measure them and let the NTMP community know!
2. A birb mystery!
You need to go on the chaotic journey to find the source of a bird call in the first Charlie’s Angels movie. It is wild how any movies get made at all.
3. Andor “reviews” on Rotten Tomatoes
(Actually via Reddit)
That’s it for this week! Remember to keep making it weird, and stay furiously curious!
I am very much in the Tone Zone ❤️😭
I thought at first you said "stay furious" and I was like I WILL!!!! Also, so heartened that Glup Shitto is back