In race & racism, orientalism is the idea that western society is the "occident", and all other cultures and countries are "Orient". Orient didn't just mean asian, it mean middle eastern, indian, etc. Basically Europe seeing itself as the center of the universe and that all other cultures are "exotic".

This concept is problematic because it encourages othering and sets western culture as the "norm".

n. An American sovereign in his probationary state.



(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

a daily dietary staple of American cuisine. Freedom has been described as tasting like milk and/or honey. Thus America is known as the both the Land of the Free or the Land of Milk and Honey

his telephone number is 001-39-6-6982
(also: god)

(adj.) coming from the origin, and remaining connected to it; perhaps transformed, but never warped nor mutilated.
many people of the modern first world live their lives carrying (and burdened by) the mistaken idea that to be original means something has to be new: artists. teenagers. but that's simply not what original means, in its true spirit!
and I do say burdened because it can weigh heavy if you want to be original and leave an original legacy. and it will feel like an impossible task.
release that ego weight.



it's about being true, not about being new.

(also: nothing new under the sun)
(also: a little love is not so bad)

(n.) a tarot character. someone who can see the dirt beneath her feet, and the roots, and the rocks, and the bugs. as a result, she can make very good soup.

Hideously appareled after the manner of the time and place.
In Boorioboola-Gha a man is presentable on occasions of ceremony if he have his abdomen painted a bright blue and wear a cow's tail; in New York he may, if it please him, omit the paint, but after sunset he must wear two tails made of the wool of a sheep and dyed black.
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

adj. Not understood.
(also: the devils dictionary)

(n.) a substance used for medical purposes. yeah. medical. we'll go with that.

humans who have done a lot of aging, reaching the later stages of the species' life span.

in many cultures, old people are revered for their wealth of experience, just as they are shunned for being weird, liver-spotted grouches who drive you up the wall with their interminable rambling stories

a monster who does not belong in this world, who steals men's souls and makes them his slaves. mankind ill needs a savior such as him

... you see what i did there? huh? huh?

Suitable for drinking. Water is said to be potable; indeed, some declare it our natural beverage, although even they find it palatable only when suffering from the recurrent disorder known as thirst, for which it is a medicine. Upon nothing has so great and diligent ingenuity been brought to bear in all ages and in all countries, except the most uncivilized, as upon the invention of substitutes for water. To hold that this general aversion to that liquid has no basis in the preservative instinct of the race is to be unscientific — and without science we are as the snakes and toads.
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(1483-1546) Sought to reform the Roman Catholic Church – starting the Protestant Reformation.
(also: 100 most influential people in the world)
(also: martin luther quotes)

(n.) as in, a win from many, many sides.
this is not a zero-sum world, despite pessimists and "realists" who might try to tell you otherwise.
(no, I won't get perfectionist on you and insist on positioning the win so that it's on literally *all* sides; but you know, getting as close to that as we possibly can)

(also: positive-sum)
(also: empathy)
(also: clarity)

not (also: zero-sum)

Knowable to those only who think it worth knowing.

(n.) a board game derived from earlier antecedents in Persia or China, in which players must use lesser pieces to successfully capture the enemy king

considered a good way to teach tactical thinking, presumably for some upcoming war where both sides politely take turns, held entirely on a featureless flat plane

(n.) the art of killing important people so as to prevent them from doing important things. assassinations are events of massive historical significance and have caused such tragedies as wars, revolutions, and walter cronkite tearing up during a public news broadcast.

(n.) ain't it the most common kind?

rsvp, répondez s'il vous plaît
asap, as soon as possible
lmao, laughing my ass off
rofl, rolling on the floor laughing
wdym, what do you mean
fwiw, for what it's worth
iirc, if I recall correctly
imho, in my honest/ humble opinion
ttyl, talk to you later
tyvm, thank you very much
tgif, thank god it's friday
byob, bring your own beer/ bottle
nsfw, not safe for work
acab, all cops are bastards
awol, absent without leave
ymmv, your mileage may vary

http, hyper-text transfer protocol
fifo, first in, first out
adhd, hyperactivity disorder
mdma, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine
nasa, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
ussr, union of soviet state republic

a Jewish religious official who performs pediatric surgery

n. The part of immortality that we know about.


(also: The Devil's Dictionary)