inverse specificity law

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A natural law that dictates that the depth and accuracy of your task description is inversely proportional to the importance of the task. You will be given a ten-page written specification on preparing an invitation for five customers to come to morning coffee, a tax audit report will be requested in an email consisting of a single paragraph, while a request to revise the organization's entire cost structure will be delivered verbally in a single sentence.

CEO: Bernie, our database manager left and we need a report of all customers who bought semi-spleeted widgets in the northwest region since the beginning of the month. There's a potentially fatal fault and we need to do a product recall.
Bernie: Sure, right away! What's the product code for semi-spleeted widgets, and what's the region code?
CEO: Dunno. The database manager left. But it's all in the database. Just do it.
Bernie: Hmmm... the inverse specificity law indicates that this task must be critically important!

inverse specificity law by Terrible Tadpole June 3, 2010

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trucker's tan

A sunburn or suntan focused on the left arm. It is caused by the left side of the body being the only half that gets exposed to sunlight while driving. Presumably, it would be located on the right side of the body in countries where they drive on the left side of the road.

I had a trucker's tan after driving for 10 straight hours on a sunny day.

trucker's tan by population361 May 30, 2006

Word of the Day on October 5, 2026

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kidulting

The phenomenon where adults salivate at children's toys

Every time I walk into the toy aisle, I catch myself kidulting over the latest action figures and LEGO sets!

kidulting by Emotional Cruiser October 12, 2025

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Boffin

British slang for a scientist or technical expert, esp . when the speaker is not certain of the expert’s specific field of study. Not necessarily derogatory, but typically used by persons without a technical background. In the US, the equivalent would be “egghead”, “squint”, or “geek.”

Origin of the word is unknown. Started sometime in World War 2. Given the typical evolution of British slang, could easily have started because what these experts did was confusing or “baffling” to the common person.

According to the boffins downstairs, the murderer used a serrated blade.

Boffin by Agnon February 11, 2023

Word of the Day on October 3, 2026

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Pee Calculus

When you have to pee in a movie but don’t want to miss anything, and must do the following mental equation: will the amount I have to pee cause enough discomfort to diminish my attention capacity for the remainder of the movie to an extent which is greater than the amount of the movie I would miss by making a mad dash to the restroom.

I saw Satantango last night, wonderful film but by the 5th hour I had to start doing pee calculus.

Pee Calculus by anorlondo October 1, 2026

Word of the Day on October 2, 2026