New-to-Me Phrases, October 5, 2025
S.H.I.T.P.H.O.N.E. * PechaKucha * *External meatus * Slop bowl * Dilemma activism * A sizeable set of luggage * Concentration Corner
The Phrases, With Context
It’s supposedly fall here in the Midwest but my weather app says otherwise, so we are currently sweating instead of wearing sweaters. Every time this happens, I remember that oil company execs knew global warming would get worse back in the ‘70s and they just shrugged and chose their own greed over their descendants’ futures. (Yes, I’m fun at parties.)
In this edition, we have dumb-phone stans, nerd gatherings, a great joke, and more. Read to the end for what is probably the funniest story I’ve ever heard.
Let’s get to it!
1. S.H.I.T.P.H.O.N.E.
, tech journalist and author of Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech, does an amazing job covering the latest news and nefarious doings of tech oligarchs through the lens of workers’ rights. In a recent newsletter, “The Luddite Renaissance is in Full Swing,” Merchant shared examples of groups that are pushing back against the blatant power grabs big tech are making. S.H.I.T.P.H.O.N.E. (Scathing Hatred of Information Technology and the Passionate Hemorrhaging of Our Neo-liberal Experience) is an acronym that organizers definitely want to save to their keyboard shortcuts. It’s also an event held this fall in NYC. I couldn’t find anything about it beyond Merchant’s post, probably because it’s a grass-roots, anti-tech, anonymously organized local event.
2. PechaKucha
I learned this phrase from my friend Jessica, who does vital work in my community for the Friends of the Woodstock Public Library (@friends-library23 on Venmo to support a cool library!) and the extremely weird local gem Atrocious Poets (donate here to support their poetic escapades!).
During a meeting of our local community care group, I mentioned wanting to host PowerPoint parties (no, I have not given up on this idea!). I’m a bit of a ham and a nerd who loves a good sight gag and want to find fun ways to share info about ideas that promote public good or just random cool stuff. Like my obsessions with both Andor and birds. Jessica shared that her brother attends PechaKucha gatherings in his town, and I needed to know more.
The PechaKucha website’s tagline reads: “Share Your Passion. Tell Your Story. Find Your People.” You’d think they’d explain the meaning of the word on their about page, but alas. Wikipedia says it’s Japanese for “chit-chat,” and that the events were created by a Tokyo architecture firm as a way to draw visitors to their event space. The website is a platform for hosting presentations and it links to events around the world, and also has some weird crypto stuff in there for some reason.
The PechaKucha storytelling format goes like this: people share 20 slides about a topic, with 20 seconds for each slide, lasting nearly seven minutes. Perfect for lifelong learners with short attention spans.
If you attended a PechaKucha event, what would your presentation be about?
3. External meatus
A friend sent this phrase after a visit to a urologist’s office, where they saw it on an anatomy poster. I mean, if you have to see a urologist, you might as well have a laugh over a word like meatus. According to Cleveland Clinic, meatus means “opening from the inside to the outside.” From a urological perspective, the external meatus is the hole from which urine and/or semen flow. It’s basically a fancy way of saying peehole if you want to feel smart at parties. If you’re wondering whether we have an internal meatus anywhere, the answer is yes, inside the ear.
4. Slop bowl
This phrase evokes our current timeline, where enshittification feels like the norm. Found via Deb Perelman at Smitten Kitchen, this Business Insider piece, “America’s favorite slop bowl chains are in trouble. We tasted them to figure out why,” delves into what you get for your $20+ at popular fast-casual chains Chipotle, Sweetgreen, and Cava.
The slop bowl started out as an elevated way to consume fast food alternatives to fried options—essentially a customizable protein-forward salad with grains.
I’m no expert, but I think journalists outright calling these offerings “slop bowls” is not a good sign for the companies offering them. Another Business Insider piece called “Splat goes the slop bowl” backs me up on this. These companies are struggling, and the predominant theory seems to be that customers are thinking, “If I’m going to pay $25 and up for a sad entree, I’ll either make one at home or go to Chili’s and have a sit-down restaurant experience.” Which is fair!
5. Dilemma activism
I found this phrase via self-described amateur historian Amanda Nelson, who posts as “Amanda’s Mild Takes” on the socials and Substack. Nelson’s salty content is one of the things keeping me grounded in this era of greed and stupidity, particularly her “get a grip” posts that push back against progressive doomerism. Instead of saying “they’ll never let us never vote again,” we should be embodying, “fuck you, try and stop me.” Inject that attitude directly into my veins!
I searched both TikTok and Insta and could not find the post where she shared this, but here’s the nutshell: Dilemma activism, more commonly called dilemma action, is a way of trolling authoritarian leaders by putting them in a situation where if they lower themselves by responding to what you’re doing, they look foolish and if they don’t, they also look ridiculous. This idea comes from Serbian resistance and is documented in the book Pranksters vs. Autocrats: Why dilemma actions advance nonviolent activism” by Srdja Popovic and Sophia A. McClennen.
An example Nelson cited is when Serbian activists set up barrels with Slobodan Milosevic’s face on them and put bats next to them, requesting small donations for a chance to hit Milosevic in the face. The police were faced with the dilemma of taking the barrels away as if they were “arresting” them, which looked silly, or leaving them, which made their war criminal boss man look bad. The statue recently erected near the Capitol showing Trump and Epstein holding hands while skipping is a great example of dilemma activism. More! Of! This!
If you’ve seen any good examples of this in the wild, let me know!
6. A sizeable set of luggage
There is a handful of TV shows I’d have traded one of my children to write for. Not the one who subscribes to this newsletter; membership has its perks. Andor. Parks and Rec. Somebody Somewhere. And most recently, Only Murders in the Building—a show I am late to watching.
If you’re not familiar, Only Murders was co-created by Steve Martin and and John Hoffman about two older men and a millennial woman who start a true crime podcast centered around murders that happen in their New York apartment building. The snappy dialogue, the generational humor, Steve Martin doing physical comedy—it’s such a fun show with a real, beating heart at its center.
This phrase came from Martin Short’s character, Oliver Putnam, a theater director who drops the best deadpan showbiz barbs. In one episode, the podcast trio finds a nude painting of the father of Steve Martin’s character, and Putnam drolly muses, “Papa had a sizeable set of luggage.”
Such a good joke! And there are so many like it on this show! Anyway, I’m available to write jokes for your show, Steve—call me!
7. Concentration Corner
This is the dorkiest phrase and it’s coined by yours truly, but I have never denied being a huge dork. Over my nearly 25 years of self-employment while raising kids and caring for elders, including a cross-country-and-back move, I’ve seen my home offices come and go. Sometimes I’ve had to offer an office space so a relative could live with us. Other times, teen siblings outgrew sharing a bedroom and asked for their own room.
I think I’ve surrendered my home office four times now, each time bringing with it a bit of grief, because I like having a big desk and monitors and decorating a little nest just for me. But it also feels good to be in community and to share with others. I have adult kids who can’t afford to move out in this insane economy, and being able to give them a roof over their head while they save for their futures feels good and important to me.
This is a really long way to travel just to tell you that my latest home office is tucked into a corner of my bedroom, which I have feathered with art and a bulletin board covered with random lovely and funny stuff. My desk is very small, but goddamn if I don’t get a ton of work done when my ADHD butt is tethered to that beautiful little spot. So I named it Concentration Corner.
Bonus Bit
Best story reveal ever? I have watched this reel 400 times to support my mental health, and I cry-laugh every time. I am going to screen record it and request that it be played as part of my memorial slide show. If you’ve ever sent a wrong link in a work email, you’ll empathize with this poor person.
That’s it for this week! Remember to keep making it weird and stay furiously curious!