ThePhysopher's definitions

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

zen-alcoholic

when you like drinking alcohol per se but regard a teaspoon of whisky as the right dose to draw the pleasure of drinking. The tablespoon is then at the boundary to alcoholism. You stay within the field of Zen combining the pleasures of body and mind.

My wife and me, we are zen-alcoholics. It is our zen philosophy to enjoy whisky etc. but because alcohol with wine at lunch and at dinner is accumulating through the day, we restrict to the enjoyable minimum. This gives the pleasure of nice drinks plus the good feeling of self-mastery, it is just zen.

by ThePhysopher February 18, 2019

Willy-nilly believer

A careless believer. Someone who hears a statement or story and takes it for granted without considering the implications of that story. In religion, this is the belief in miracles as the multiplication of bread or the belief in an afterlife of a human after having seen the macabre decay of body (and brain). The opposite is an illuminated person who considers the plausibility and the side effects of a story.

There is no sense to discuss this with her. She just believes that she hears the spirits of the deceased talking, just willy-nilly. She is a willy-nilly believer in many things. Maybe she should take a course in physics. Or in psychology.

by ThePhysopher October 6, 2019

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

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

familygram

A cartoon or video which is so cute and innocent that you can distribute it (e.g. via Whatsapp) in the family. The property is called „familygrammable“ .
Formed following „instagramm“ and instagrammable“

Oh! This cat cartoon is so cute. I will send it to the children.

This baby animal video gives a great familygram. All women in the family will love it, but also your husband.

by ThePhysopher October 22, 2020

Single Penis Relationship (SPR)

A relationship of a couple owning just one penis. This implies presumably also the ownership of a vagina.

Patricia and James live now together. They started a regular single penis relationship (SPR) after some turbulences. Cp. to Double Penis Relationship (DPR) and Zero Penis Relationship (ZPR).

by ThePhysopher September 25, 2016