An increasingly relevant wordplay on the cliché "cautiously optimistic". As the world continues in free fall, its much more realistic to expect negative outcomes. Therefore, its much more pragmatic to maintain a cautiously pessimistic demeanor, rather than a cautiously optimistic one.

My cat is always cautiously pessimistic when inspecting anything new that I bring into the house.

Cautiously Pessimistic by ChimneySweepGreg August 10, 2012

Caution Call

The act of calling your girlfriend (or anyone for that matter) and hanging up right away simply so it says "Missed Call from 'your name'".

Great in those many situations where you don't want to talk to a girl, but you want her to think you cared a little bit.

Dude A: "Crap I told that girl I would call her!"
Dude B: "No worries, caution call that!"
Dude A: "Thanks man, you just saved my romantic night featuring her black silk sheets and my erotic demeanor!"

Caution Call by adri0801 August 5, 2009

throw caution to the wind

to disregard any risk or potential disaster when undertaking any enterprise, venture, etc.

The founders of the American-based fast-food chain, McDonald's, decided to throw caution to the wind when they established their original franchises in the 1930s, during the Great Depression.

throw caution to the wind by Polo May 24, 2007

Abundance of caution

This type of caution is typically practiced by institutions and larger private sector organisations seeking to minimise exposure to personal injury or similar legal claims but has during the early part of 2020 increasingly been adopted by individuals seeking to cover up their total panic on realising their previous publicly stated position on a matter of significant risk was riddled with hubris and incoherent bravado.

“...out of an abundance of caution, temperature checks are now being performed on any individuals who are in close contact with the President and Vice President...”

Abundance of caution by Connell1968 March 14, 2020

cautionary whale

a young pregnant girl who serves as a warning to others her age

Jamie Lynn Spears is a cautionary whale for Miley Cyrus.

cautionary whale by Anna M January 12, 2009

You met me at a very Chinese time in my life

A moment in time where you feel distinctly Chinese over all other things.

Dante: "I wish I could be Nigerian, but I can't because I'm Chinese. You met me at a very Chinese time in my life."

You met me at a very Chinese time in my life by Sus Chad September 21, 2026

Word of the Day on September 25, 2026

crunchy

Adjective. Used to describe persons who have adjusted or altered their lifestyle for environmental reasons. Crunchy persons tend to be politically strongly left-leaning and may be additionally but not exclusively categorized as vegetarians, vegans, eco-tarians, conservationists, environmentalists, neo-hippies, tree huggers, nature enthusiasts, etc.

Also used to describe establishments where alternative foods and products are sold, i.e. natural food stores.

Modified derivative of granola.

"I need more crunchy guys in my life. I'm so tired of dating preppy metrosexual assholes."

"I'm heading out to the crunchy store to pick up some fair trade chocolate and tea tree oil, do you need anything?"

crunchy by EBC July 11, 2007

Word of the Day on September 24, 2026

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