Skip to main content

Olive989's definitions

Escape

(1.) The pursuit we owe to ourselves and the world.

Everyone is a prisoner of something. Current physical circumstances. Past trauma. A limit of belief or imagination. An insecurity. A lie we believe. A truth we ignore. A fear of failure. A voice in our heads that dictates what we can and cannot do. Expectations of family or society. Disability. Chronic Illness. Addiction. Grief. Shame. A general world weariness or exhaustion. A locked idea that the world we've known is the only world there is, or ever could be.

We praise the P.O.W. who escapes an enemy/internment camp. We praise the addict who escapes their addiction and chooses sobriety. But in so many other contexts escape is considered juvenile, a product of weakness or immaturity. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

(2.) To imagine something better for yourself or the world in a fictional setting, until you have the courage or ability to make it real.

No P.O.W. escapes an internment camp without imagining a vision of freedom powerful enough it spits in the face of their current tortured and starved reality. Equally so, an addict who imagines a reality in which they are sober, is often imagining something they think is impossible.

Escape gives us permission to think limitlessly, even when we think everything in our life limits us. Because it doesn't ask what's likely or possible, or what the odds are. It just asks, "What would your reality look like if you had it your Way?"
Nobody who ever dared to dream the impossible, and made it real, started off thinking it could happen.

Escape is the birthplace of the things we dare to dream.
by Olive989 March 9, 2023
mugGet the Escapemug.

Thought

The burden of human consciousness.

Thoughts come in a whole universe of flavors. But most of the words that categorize thought end in either"tion" or "sion".

Some tion/sion examples:

Rumination, premeditation, hesitation, deliberation, consideration, obsession, contemplation, compulsion, conception, introspection, repression, categorization, recognition, reconfiguration, Memorization,

Other: Fantasize, daydream, equating, misconstrue,
Thought can be enjoyable if you've got something to do. Other times I wish I could shut the whole process off.
by Olive989 March 13, 2023
mugGet the Thoughtmug.

Suffering Olympics

(1.) When someone tries to hold a contest on whose had it worse, as if suffering was a cereal box with a prize at the bottom.. And not in fact, a depressing reality with no winners.

(2.) Employing mental gymnastics to try and cement the message that your suffering is the only suffering that counts.

A suffering olympics can be held in either a one on one scenario (where the person directly compares their own suffering)...Or it could be a context where the person compares first world to third world problems, and individual vs. Systemic, (always as if one cancels out the other. )
People who try to turn other people's pain into the suffering olympics, usually have one of two goals:

(1.) They're purely seeking personal vindication, because they're too dumb to realize this isn't a contest anyone should want to win.

(2.) They're trying to police someone else's feelings, boundaries or expectations, after being called out for bad behavior. (I.E. I'm not that bad because I had it so much worse growing up. (Or) How dare you even suggest I modify my behavior in any way! Aren't you aware there are children in Africa dying of AIDS?!)
by Olive989 March 15, 2023
mugGet the Suffering Olympicsmug.

Bird of Pray

This is a shout out to all the young eagles, hawks, falcons and vultures, (birds of prey) who are afraid of heights. And find themselves praying for the courage to push their little taloned feet off the tree and into the pretty blue sky.

You can do it!
I want to live up to my bird of prey potential, but right now I'm just a bird of pray.

-Baldy Mcflapflap
by Olive989 March 14, 2023
mugGet the Bird of Praymug.

Snake in the grass

Someone who pretends to be something other than what they are, while hiding a nefarious agenda.

Note (1.) A snake in the grass doesn't have to be sadistic, but they have to be self-serving enough, they don't care who they hurt in the process of achieving what they want.

Note (2.) The term "snake in the grass" has been around a long time. Long before people had lawnmowers, or constantly trimmed their lawns like a military buzz cut. So the grass metaphor used to be more obvious. When the average person's lawn used to grow past their ankles..snakes were rarely visible.
If you want to describe a cold blooded human with hidden intentions, "snake in the grass" isn't a bad choice.
by Olive989 March 23, 2023
mugGet the Snake in the grassmug.

Compound Words

When two (whole) words are combined to create a new word with a new meaning.

(This new meaning can be wildly different from what the original two words mean on their own).

Additionally, there are three different kinds of Compound Words: Open, Closed, and Hyphenated.

Closed compound words have no spaces. Open compound words have separation between the two (or three) words. Hyphenated compound words have hyphens between words.

(Closed Compound Words):

Justice- Just, Ice,
Bargain- Bar, gain,
Kidnapping- Kid, Napping,
Grandparent- Grand, Parent,

Babysit- Baby, Sit,
Pineapple- Pine, Apple,

(Open Compound Words):

(While there’s a physical space between open compound words, the meanings of the two words have been combined. This is why they are still considered Compound.)

Examples:

Cell Phone- Cell, Phone,
First Aid- First, Aid,

Common Sense- Common, Sense,

Real Estate- Real, Estate,

Life Jacket- Life, Jacket,

Rib Cage- Rib, Cage,

Hot Dog- Hot, Dog,

Cotton Candy- Cotton, Candy,

(Hyphenated Compound Words):

Well-being- Well, Being,
Word-of-mouth- Word, Mouth, Of,

Up-to-date- Up, date, to,
Most native English speakers don't give compound words much thought...because we're so overly familiar with them in every day speech. However...Compound words are a great testament to how bizarre (and often hilarious) the English language can be.

Like think about the distinct departure in meaning between say: kidnapping vs. kid napping or one nightstand vs. one night stand, Or what about how we decided to define generational age with words like "Grand" or "Great?" (I.E. Great-Great-Grandparent). We all know there's nothing grand about aging itself, and not everyone's grandparents qualify as "grand" either. "Hot dog" is another little adventure.

There is so much about the world that's wonderful and weird sitting in front of us, but we miss out because we don't pay attention to what's overly familiar.
by Olive989 March 27, 2023
mugGet the Compound Wordsmug.

Complicated

(1.) A word someone uses, whenever there's a hard (but simple) reality in front of them, they don't want to face.

Things that are genuinely/inherently complicated, are called, "complex". (You'll notice nobody refers to their relationship status as "complex", because deep down even they know they're lying to themselves. )

(2.) A synonym for "None of your business".
(1.) He says he doesn't want a relationship right now, because he's got a lot going on. His direct response and terrible excuse make things so complicated. Ugh. Whatever will I do with these obscure words shrouded in mystery?

(2.) Person A: "How about you tell me that Mountain Slope story Sheila?"

Person B: "Maybe another time Jerry. It's complicated."
by Olive989 March 3, 2023
mugGet the Complicatedmug.

Share this definition