Category
Words We've Been Lied To About
An English teacher's take on the loaded words we use without ever questioning what they really mean.
"Failure" Who Decided Losing Means You Failed?
Rigorous replications found growth mindset changes beliefs but barely moves outcomes without real environmental support, a much smaller effect than the popular version claims.
"Old" - When Did It Become a Bad Word?
A 23-year Yale study found people with positive views of aging lived 7.5 years longer, more than the effect of not smoking or exercising, according to the American Psychological Association.
"Successful" Who Decided What Success Means?
"Success" originally just meant "an outcome", good or bad. The promise that it will make you happy was added later, and the arrival fallacy explains why it rarely delivers.
"Independent" - Does Needing Someone Make You Weak?
Attachment research shows secure dependence produces more independence, not less. The word "independent" may be pointing us in the wrong direction entirely.
"Strong" — Why Must Everyone Be Strong?
A classic study found that suppressing emotion doesn't lower distress, it just moves the cost into the body. "Strength" may be doing more harm than we admit.
"Nice" - When Did Nice Become an Insult?
"Nice" meant "foolish" for a century before it meant "kind." Its 700-year journey through six different meanings says something about how unstable the word still is.
"Sorry" — Why Are We Apologising When We Did Nothing Wrong?
A 2010 study found no gender gap in how often people apologize once something feels wrong, only in what counts as wrong in the first place.
That's all 7 articles