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ThePhysopher's definitions

Lateral Copy

Sharing an article from the Internet while bypassing a paywall.
If you are a member and receive an interesting article, but your friend cannot read it because they are not a member, what do you do? You copy the article “by hand”, put it back together nicely and send it to the friend. This is a lateral copy.
Another great article that J. will be interested in. But the link is useless to him: he's not a member. I'll have to make him a lateral copy again.
by ThePhysopher September 25, 2025
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Fosca effect

In the novel of Simone de Beauvoir, Fosca is a man who is the only one who cannot die. However, he becomes unhappy because all his friends die and leave him. The Fosca effect is therefore the feeling of an old person when he or she outlives their friends and the other people around them also disappear. It is a mixture of melancholy, pride and the guilt of still being alive.
Why is your father so sad? It's the Fosca effect, another one of his school friends has died.

I really must write my memoirs. It's probably the Fosca effect: if I don't do it, who else will?
The Fosca effect is quite natural when you get very old.
by ThePhysopher June 16, 2025
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birthday position

For his birthday, he gets to choose how they will make love. The position is therefore called birthday position.
My husband can ask me all year round if we do it this way, but I always answer: it's not your birthday. This is your birthday position!
My wife has also invented an Urban Dictionary word. It's both appealing and bitter: the birthday position.
by ThePhysopher May 4, 2025
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ILH

ILH or "I love her" is here an affectionate but slightly sarcastic remark.
A man says ILH loudly or silently when he doesn't like to do something she wants
but he does it because he just loves her! Of course, it could also mean *I love him".
If she wants to go to the opera and I don't, then I say to myself quietly: ILH (I love her) and go anyway
I've told ILH many times, she already knows what it means and just laughs contentedly.
by ThePhysopher November 18, 2024
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Woodware

This is a derogatory word for books, especially novels. The paper of books is made of wood and can burn like wood.
I always tell my wife that the books she reads are just woodware. Reading them is wasted time.

Ian McEwan said that many novels are just housewife gossip. I would say these books are woodware.
by ThePhysopher July 24, 2024
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menuphobia

The reluctance to make decisions

Making decisions is always a task. But it is an unpleasant task for many people. The term "menuphobia" describes this aversion to having to choose between several alternatives.
I hate long lists of choices in restaurants. My wife always makes the better choice and I have to watch her. I already have real menuphobia.
There is so much great food to choose from on the cruise that I can't make up my mind. But I still can't be happy because of my menuphobia.
by ThePhysopher June 17, 2024
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Menuphobia

Reluctance to make a choice between different alternatives.

Making decisions is always a task. But it is an unpleasant task for many people. The term "menuphobia" describes this aversion to having to choose between several alternatives.
I hate long lists of choices in restaurants. My wife always makes the better choice and I have to watch her. I already have real menu phobia.

There is so much great food to choose from on the cruise that I can't make up my mind. I suffer from menuphobia.
by ThePhysopher June 14, 2024
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