A psychological effect, induced by name dropping certain video games, that causes anyone who played that game to have a sudden urge to play it.

Named after the 2000 PC game Deus Ex, which famously will cause at least one person in the conversation to reinstall the game whenever mentioned, especially online.

Fred: Hey man, did you ever play that Deus Ex game? It was totally awesome.
Bill: Oh yeah, I loved that game! I should install it on my new PC.
Fred: Aw man, now I wanna play it!
Bill: That's the Deus Ex effect for you, buddy.

deus ex effect by JD Tenton November 10, 2011

Related Words

ex effect • deus ex effect • The Ex-Girlfriend Effect • ex • ex boyfriend • ex-wife • ex girlfriend • ex best friend • ex sex • Ex-friend

The Ex-Girlfriend Effect

When a girl makes very noticeable changes to her appearance (ex. dying or cutting her hair, wearing particularly sexy clothes) before meeting up with her ex-boyfriend - who is usually the one who left her - a short period of time after the break up to "grab a coffee" or "get her stuff back". This is supposed to have the effect of a shock for the guy, who feels like he's already missed out on a lot and like she's doing great and moving on without him. The goal is to make him ultimately regret his decision.

We were supposed to go to a cafe today to "talk about it", but I bailed because I want Sarah to dye my hair before the next time he sees me, so that the Ex-Girlfriend Effect is be complete.

The Ex-Girlfriend Effect by sassanova January 29, 2010

Galantir

A group of people, typically women, searching through someone’s digital footprint in order to find more information about that person.

Susie wasn’t sure if her new Hinge match was a creep, so she assembled Galantir and they found out he used to post slurs on gaming forums.

Galantir by Ge-sus September 22, 2026

Word of the Day on September 23, 2026

murderhobo

In a tabletop game, a murderhobo is a player who murders NPCs indiscriminately. This is normally derogatory, referring to a player who totally ignores quests, dialog, backstory, trade, world building etc.

The term is most common with Dungeons and Dragons, but it can be applied to most RPGs where the player is allowed to kill most quest-giving NPCs and NPC traders. E.g. Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Divinity original sin.

DM: The sad little orphan girl tugs at Steve's trenchcoat to get his attention, and ask for help saving her pet dog from...
Steve: I'd like to roll a strength check against strangling the orphan.
Dave: I call dibs on the dog.
DM: You murderhobos disgust me.

murderhobo by Loup&S September 9, 2021

Word of the Day on September 22, 2026

Whale

In sales terms, a whale is a prospect that is significantly larger than an organization’s average customer.

Whales are large and extremely difficult to close. Due to their immense size, they are highly sought-after.

A whale is typically identified at first by a whale hunter on the sales team, but often requires cross-discipline participation in order to close; this includes assistance from operations, engineering, creative, client success, and business development teams.

"Shit...the sales director chewed me out on the sales call this morning. He's totally pissed that I have nothing in my pipeline. I've been focused on this one whale for so long that I haven't had time to prospect for normal-sized deals."

Whale by FQ_GFY February 3, 2020

Word of the Day on September 21, 2026

Concrete cowboy

A guy who thinks he's a country kinda guy, but in reality lives a comfortable city / suburban life.

Eugene: Look at that dude in the cowboy hat!
Todd: He's just a concrete cowboy.

Concrete cowboy by EugeneJohnson42000 March 16, 2024

Word of the Day on September 20, 2026

hobo loko

any hard liquor that is cheap & potent.. eg. relska, popov, potters, evan williams, kamchatka, fireball, rumpleminze, southern comfort, everclear

hey let's get a drink of that?

go ahead
*takes drink* ugh wtf is that?

everclear & bepsi
fucking hobo loko eeessshh

hobo loko by d i z k o 2 0 8 September 14, 2026

Word of the Day on September 19, 2026

God Shot

A chance happening with profound meaning, an unexpected blessing, a "sign".

Dr. Drew on Celebrity Rehab said "All of a sudden what had been just another Hollywood proposal became for him an unexpected blessing, an opportunity for growth. In drug recovery language, that's called a "God shot."

God Shot by Imogen1564 February 25, 2011

Word of the Day on September 18, 2026