What new words have you learned recently?

[Keltest]

Question: I've seen the word "meltdown" used to refer to an angry reaction by an adult man. Does it imply that the person is petty (as it's often used for kids), or that he's not neurotypical?

Both, potentially, but typically the former in my experience. You might see "he exploded" used in a similar context. It also carries undertones of unreasonableness that other terms for an extreme reaction do not necessarily.

[Spacewolf]

Neither I think?
It seems like it comes from a nuclear meltdown, so basically just a violent out of control reaction. I wouldn't ascribe it to mean non-neurotypical or childish, personally at least.

[Rogar Demonblud]

As I understand it, it started as a metaphor (reactors melting down is really bad) which got broadly applied to the point of meaninglessness.

[Xuc Xac]

When a barbarian in D&D goes into a rage, they can still do useful things and even get better at physical actions because of the adrenaline boost. Someone having a meltdown is also angry, but in a useless and unfocused way. It's a dysfunctional and counterproductive overreaction.

[Hyoi]

I've always heard meltdown used for both children and adults to mean "this person has arrived at an emotional state where they are no longer able to regulate their own behavior or respond rationally to events" by analogy with a reactor meltdown, which happens when a reactor loses the ability to regulate its own temperature or shut down safely.

Meltdowns are more common in children, and if an adult is prone to meltdowns they might be labeled neurologically atypical, but the term itself isn't specific to either of those.

[Razade]

Question: I've seen the word "meltdown" used to refer to an angry reaction by an adult man. Does it imply that the person is petty (as it's often used for kids), or that he's not neurotypical?

Meltdown is used to mean a sudden, often disproportionate display of anger. Often violently so and generally in a public setting. It is neither a gendered thing nor does it imply neurotypical people. The whole "Karen" meme is a really good example of a metldown.

[Peelee]

Meltdown is used to mean a sudden, often disproportionate display of anger. Often violently so and generally in a public setting. It is neither a gendered thing nor does it imply neurotypical people. The whole "Karen" meme is a really good example of a metldown.

I don't know how often it's violent, but other than that this is exactly how I would define a meltdown.

[Razade]

I don't know how often it's violent, but other than that this is exactly how I would define a meltdown.

Violence doesn't have to be on people or even your surroundings. Or even physical harm. Violent here means animated, strong or overwhelming. Though I think when we use the word metldown we all get the mental image of someone throwing things around, knocking displays over. That's still violent anger.

[snowblizz]

What's it called? It sounds interesting.

"Slaveriets Historia" by **** Harrison.

Whose name always gets censored by the software. One of the more prolific Swedish historians.

[BisectedBrioche]

Question: I've seen the word "meltdown" used to refer to an angry reaction by an adult man. Does it imply that the person is petty (as it's often used for kids), or that he's not neurotypical?

The term "meltdown" is used specifically to describe one of two reactions people with ASD can show to harmful stimuli (the other being a "shutdown"); it applies just as much to autistic adults as kids, although it's more likely an adult's learnt some coping mechanisms.

But when someone says someone's having a meltdown, they probably just mean in the more generic sense (from which the term was derived) of "loses control of themselves", which itself comes from "nuclear meltdown" (similar to the expression "going nuclear" to mean an angry outburst). The definition above probably doesn't factor into it.

[Fyraltari]

Meltdown is used to mean a sudden, often disproportionate display of anger. Often violently so and generally in a public setting. It is neither a gendered thing nor does it imply neurotypical people. The whole "Karen" meme is a really good example of a metldown.

Interesting, so if somebody started crying incontrolably to the point they can't firm sentences or do anything, you wouldn't call that a meltdown?

[Razade]

Interesting, so if somebody started crying incontrolably to the point they can't firm sentences or do anything, you wouldn't call that a meltdown?

I think it depends on the context. There's a few similar terms in regards to -downs as it were all based on stimuli.

Meltdown: Which we've covered. A meltdown is a disproportionate display of anger or frustration to a given stimuli. The "Karen" meme is the perfect exemplar for this. Someone so angry at...whatever it is, that they lash out without thinking. Either physically or verbally. Often violently, which is to mean overwhelmingly but also sometimes destructively. There are certainly other ways to display this. Everyone processes and expresses frustration and anger in different manners.

Breakdown: As Brioche pointed out, this is another response people might have. Either crying or displays of profound sorrow, anger is certainly possible in a breakdown. Basically a breakdown is an event where you come to an emotional stimuli and are unable to articulate or express yourself to others until you've found a way to sort through the emotions you're feeling. It is often preceded by the term "Mental" to express that it was something internal. They can also be called a Nervous Breakdown,

Shutdown: The most severe of these, where a person as the name implies closes off completely. They either do not or cannot process or deal with external stimuli.

Of the three, I'd generally say someone crying to the point they can't articulate would be a breakdown but without the scenario and the person it could be one of any of these. It's certainly response to emotional distress.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Note that all three are technically coping mechanisms, so in moderation they aren't necessarily bad. But they do make a prima facie case for asking someone if they're alright and/or need to talk. Mental wellness checks are one of the many unstated benefits of friendship.

[SZbNAhL]

Aposematism - the use of colours and markings to deter predators. Learned it from a Dave Gorman bit* of all things.

*I won't link it here because another part of the act touched on something which is arguably politics.

[Razade]

Note that all three are technically coping mechanisms, so in moderation they aren't necessarily bad. But they do make a prima facie case for asking someone if they're alright and/or need to talk. Mental wellness checks are one of the many unstated benefits of friendship.

I'd generally urge people who think someone is a danger to themselves or others to contact some kind of medical professionals or even law enforcement while maintaining a distance to keep an eye on the person or people.

I legit thought someone was in serious danger (they were erratic and looked in distress) when I was pulling out of the car park for my apartment. I stopped the car and got out, stuck close to the car and kept my door open. I thought I'd locked the doors and I thought I was safe with a car's length between us. I had not. I was not.

The guy pulled a gun on me, told me to get into the car and started to climb into the car when it was clear I thought he was joking. I literally laughed at him and said "What are you going to do, shoot me?" as he pulled up a face mask to cover his face and kept shouting at me to get in the car. It was surreal, especially looking back 4ish years later. If someone told me that was their reaction before I probably would have just rolled my eyes. I totally get it now. The whole situation felt unreal, like it was someone else standing there with a gun in their face and not me.

It was only quick thinking, as I called out to people for help who...did not...that let me slam the door shut and back away. Luckily I was also dumb enough to have left my cellphone in my apartment (a thing I have never done since) and immediately called the cops after the guy took off. Thankfully other people in the apartment complex not in the parking lot heard me shouting and were way ahead of me. Also thankfully, it was a rental car because my actual car was stolen three weeks prior from the same parking lot while I was asleep.

It was not a good area. I thankfully got my original car back. Literally a week later. They just found it in some random apartment complex four or five blocks away. The car was going to get towed and it pinged when they ran the license. It was filled with jello packets, shampoo bottles, a ton of baby care products and a few Spanish music CDs. No idea about the rental to this day though the joke was ultimately on the guy. It was a push start car and I still have the key fob. So he didn't get far with his stolen car.

Still, the point remains. Do not approach people you suspect are in mental distress as a general rule. Not if they're elderly, not if you're a big strong strapping man and they're a lady, especially not if you're a lady and they're a much larger, strapping man. Do call the proper people to handle those sorts of issues. I'm not saying people suffering emotional problems are dangerous (I myself suffer emotional and mental health issues and I'm not dangerous), I'm not saying that you're going to be in danger every time either. What I am saying is mitigate risk to yourself and others as much as you can. Chances are unless you're a trained professional you're not going to be able to do much except make sure they're ok and wait for people who are properly trained. You never know how people are going to respond, you never know what people are really thinking or what they'll do. All you can know is what you can do and what you're going to do.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Posts like this make me wonder if I'm the only one who reads the non-COVID news. Calling 'responsible authority' has a very high probability of getting the person in distress injured or killed. Because we do not have trained professionals on call. Just the police, who are not mental health professionals.

[Hyoi]

If I have to approach somebody who is behaving erratically I typically A) bring backup and B) leave at least one person at a distance who could get help if things went poorly.

My recently-learned word is arete, which in geography refers to a sharp rocky crest on top of a ridge, and in mountaineering refers to that or (more often) to the vertical edge formed when two cliff faces meet at an outward angle. The opposite is a dihedral, which is the corner formed when two cliff faces meet at an inward angle.

[Scarlet Knight]

Posts like this make me wonder if I'm the only one who reads the non-COVID news. Calling 'responsible authority' has a very high probability of getting the person in distress injured or killed. Because we do not have trained professionals on call. Just the police, who are not mental health professionals.

Sadly options are few. I was in Manhattan and saw a man standing in the middle of the street , cursing the cars.

I could: a) go to him and try to calm him down...a dangerous choice. b) call 911 or c) the traditional New York answer, put my head down and keep walking. I chose b) then c) which had the best odds of success.

Here's one I've never seen before: celesbian (a portmanteau of celebrity and lesbian) - a female celebrity known or reputed to be a lesbian.

[Razade]

Posts like this make me wonder if I'm the only one who reads the non-COVID news. Calling 'responsible authority' has a very high probability of getting the person in distress injured or killed. Because we do not have trained professionals on call. Just the police, who are not mental health professionals.

I absolutely do watch the news and absolutely aware of the problems it might cause. As you assert however, it's not statistically a "high" probability of that person getting hurt or injured. The numbers don't bare that out no matter what the news shows. Going off the news, and not...ya know...data and research, is a weird way to get facts. I fear actually bringing in the numbers or really discussing this further would violate the forum rules however.

It is safer to call people who can help than it is to help yourself when you aren't trained to do it. Don't just believe me or take my word for it. Look up the numbers. I have.

[danzibr]

Food is definitely a big part of Italian culture (and plenty others, I'm sure). That part of a culture also always seems to be one of the most deeply held - almost everyone I know who's family seems to care in anyway what it's roots are, one of the first things they show you is their family recipes - English, German, French, Spanish, Polish, Italian, Greek, if your family puts something before "American" when describing themselves (even regional US terms like southeastern or midwestern to a limited extent), odds are pretty good you have a family dish to prove it. It probably is for the same reason that food television picked up in the US after 9/11. Nothing makes you think of home more than food, so it's the last part of the "old country" a family gives up.

I will say though, I think that I got the good end of this tendency - both traditional Italian and southern food is amazing, and I have recipes for both in my family.


To get back on topic - More fun with legal terms: Trespass can be used in reference to a person: to "trespass" someone means to bar them from an area. IE, if you trespass on my land, I will trespass you and bar you from ever returning, and stores will "trespass" shoplifters.

I learned recently “sanction” is kinda like that.

[me_ow]

nonchalant :D
at first you might think its means to have no chill at all ! but its the exact opposite !

[Scarlet Knight]

Here's one I read recently: Oneiric - an adjective that describes things related to dreams.

"The book is both ornate & oneiric, eliciting both paranoia and enchantment."

[sundernaught]

I do not know if it was the OP's intention but this thread is very informative! Most of the words here are new to me :^)

[understatement]

I do not know if it was the OP's intention but this thread is very informative! Most of the words here are new to me :^)

It absolutely was!

"Bildungsroman" is one of my new favorite words.

In the newspaper today I also picked up on "extramural" : outside the walls/boundaries of a town, college, or institution.

[Rogar Demonblud]

I learned today that I've been using 'passerine' wrong. From the birds it describes, I thought is had to do with long-distance migration. Turns out it's about the style of foot they have.

[Scarlet Knight]

I thought this was a typo, but it's a word on it's own: Redound

1. To have an effect or consequence 2. To return; recoil

"His denial of Covid managed to redound on him."

[BisectedBrioche]

What's the difference between redound and rebound?

[Rogar Demonblud]

Redound is generally negative, rebound positive.

[Xuc Xac]

What's the difference between redound and rebound?

Redound is intransitive. It has no object: something can redound, but you can't redound something.

Rebound is transitive, so it can have an object, meaning you can do it to something.

"The ball redounded off the wall." vs "He rebounded the ball off the wall."

[Imbalance]

Spox

Is lazy journalist shorthand slang for spokesperson.