plethora effect

The "plethora effect" is when kids use words in college application or SAT essays that sound good but they don't really know the meaning of. Sometimes they'll accidentally use thme as words that sound similar but have completely different meanings (for example, accidentally saying homeliness instead of homelessness) or sometimes they'll just be totally wrong. It was given the name a few years ago when someone decided that "plethora" was a 'good SAT word' and everyone started using it in college essays, much to the chagrin of the people who actually read the things. It's basically a result of kids prepping for the SAT and college process too much. (Starting SAT review books in middle school, taking tons of Princeton Review classes, etc.) Can sometimes be helped with the use of spellcheck.

Admissions person 1: "Look at this, this girl's essay is about how 'fragile and venerable' she was as a middle schooler, and how much she's grown."

Admissions person 2: "That's the plethora effect for you..."

plethora effect by ZenGwen May 21, 2006

Get merch

Get the plethora effect mug.

See more merch

Shackteâu

A Shackteau is a humble, weather-beaten, structurally questionable shelter located in a spectacular or highly coveted place—Wales, Jackson Hole, Sun Valley, Crested Butte, coastal Maine, the Alps—where the building itself may be worth almost nothing, but the dirt, view, access, and mythology make it absurdly valuable.
In use:

Shackteâu - We thought it was an abandoned shed until the realtor called it a rare alpine Shackteâu with unobstructed views and listed it for $2 million.

Shackteâu by ez-dog June 4, 2026

Word of the Day on June 5, 2026

Get merch

Sonion

Sonion comes from a GIF that is a mix of the word son and onion ( if you use this slang you like dih)

Man 1 says "I drank last night I need a break" Man 2 "Sonion"

Sonion by popularloner67 March 11, 2026

Word of the Day on June 4, 2026

Get merch

breatharian

One whos diet consists of air, light, and prana, with a possible sip of water now and then.

The breatharian has air, light, and prana for food.

breatharian by leena gabor November 8, 2005

Word of the Day on June 3, 2026

Get merch

A Booger In The Nose Of Progress

Anything that impedes or otherwise interferes with a process going forward.

"Militarily, that inquest was a booger in the nose of progress."

or

"As far as human rights are concerned, this political infighting is a booger in the nose of progress."

A Booger In The Nose Of Progress by Rok'n'rol Wannabe October 19, 2006

Word of the Day on June 2, 2026

Get merch

🤡🫵🏻

How to say "you're an idiot/clown" using only emojis.

Person 1: Insert completely incorrect and/or idiotic statement here
Person 2: 🤡🫵🏻

🤡🫵🏻 by Ubeenbamboozledson May 31, 2026

Word of the Day on June 1, 2026

Get merch

fogey

Fogey/fogy /fougi/ sl. (early 18C+, orig. Scot) old-fashioned, stuck-in-the mud.
Person with old fashioned ideas which he is unwilling to change: Come to the disco and stop being such an old fogey!

You think me an old fogeyand an old tory, his thoughtful voice said. I saw three generations since O’Connel’s time. I remember the famine. Do you know that the orange lodges agitated for repeal of the union twenty years before O’Connel did or before the prelates of your communion denounced him as a demagogue? You fenians forget some things. (James Joyce, Ulysses. Penguin Books,1992. p. 38)

fogey by Petyush September 14, 2005

Word of the Day on May 31, 2026

Get merch