Original card samples

Short answer

A snowclone is a familiar sentence pattern reused by swapping a few parts, as in "X is the new Y." Headlines and slogans rely on the listener recognizing the original.

Full answer

A snowclone is a familiar sentence pattern reused by swapping a few parts, as in "X is the new Y." The term began as a joke about media clichés and spread through online language circles. Headlines, adverts, and slogans rely on the audience recognizing the original pattern for the variation to land.

Topic directions

• Botany
• Meteorology
• Language

Short answer

A cranberry morpheme looks like a meaningful word part but survives in only a few fixed words. In "cranberry," "berry" stands alone while "cran-" means nothing on its own.

Full answer

A cranberry morpheme looks like a meaningful word part but survives in only one or a few fixed expressions. In "cranberry," the word "berry" stands alone, while "cran-" has no productive meaning in modern English. Such fragments often remain as fossils of an older word history.

Topic directions

• Libraries
• Botany
• Language

Short answer

The Tiffany Problem occurs when a historically accurate detail feels too modern to an audience and is mistaken for an anachronism. Tiffany is in fact a medieval name.

Full answer

The Tiffany Problem occurs when a historically accurate detail feels too modern to an audience and is mistaken for an anachronism. Tiffany derives from the medieval name Theophania, but its association with a modern jewellery brand means writers must sometimes choose between accuracy and what looks accurate.

Topic directions

• Finance
• Economics
• History

Short answer

The White Bear Problem is the tendency for a thought to return when you deliberately try to suppress it. Part of the mind must keep checking whether the forbidden thought has appeared.

Full answer

The White Bear Problem is the tendency for a thought to return when you deliberately try to suppress it. Part of the mind must keep checking whether the forbidden thought has appeared, which keeps activating it. Experiments using a white bear also found that the thought may rebound more strongly after suppression ends.

Topic directions

• Games
• Psychology
• Meteorology

Short answer

The Ben Franklin effect is the possibility that someone may like you more after doing you a small favour, because they seek a reason for their own friendly action.

Full answer

The Ben Franklin effect is the possibility that someone may like you more after doing you a small favour, because they seek a reason for their own friendly action. It is named after Franklin borrowing a book from a political opponent. Willingness, request size, and the existing relationship all matter, so the effect is not guaranteed.

Topic directions

• Psychology
• Telecommunications
• Physics

Short answer

The Proteus effect describes people temporarily changing their behaviour to match traits suggested by their virtual avatar. Users given taller avatars negotiated more assertively.

Full answer

The Proteus effect describes people temporarily changing their behaviour to match traits suggested by their virtual avatar. Early experiments found that users with more attractive avatars approached others more readily, while taller avatars negotiated more assertively. The result depends on context and identification with the avatar; it does not permanently rewrite personality.

Topic directions

• Astronomy
• Psychology
• Biology

Short answer

The Pygmalion effect occurs when a teacher's or supervisor's high expectations lead them to offer more encouragement, attention, and challenge, helping produce better performance.

Full answer

The Pygmalion effect occurs when a teacher's or supervisor's high expectations lead them to offer more encouragement, attention, and challenge, helping produce better performance. Its name comes from the myth of Pygmalion. Research results vary by setting, and belief alone cannot guarantee that someone will succeed.

Topic directions

• Art
• Psychology
• Folklore

Short answer

The Golem effect is the negative counterpart to the Pygmalion effect. A teacher or supervisor who expects poor performance may provide less guidance and fewer opportunities, then treat mistakes as confirmation.

Full answer

The Golem effect is the negative counterpart to the Pygmalion effect. A teacher or supervisor who expects poor performance may provide less guidance and fewer opportunities, then treat mistakes as confirmation. Low expectations, bias, and prior ability are difficult to separate, however, and the effect does not explain every failure.

Topic directions

• Games
• Folklore
• Psychology

Short answer

People often rate their driving, moral, or work abilities as above average, especially when the standards are vague. The name comes from a fictional town where everyone is above average.

Full answer

People often rate their driving, moral or work abilities as above average, especially when the standards are vague. The name comes from a joke in the fictional town of Lake Wobegon that "all kids are above average"; people may underestimate themselves when faced with clear or unfamiliar tasks.

Topic directions

• Literature
• Geography
• Psychology

Short answer

The Zeigarnik effect is the tendency for interrupted or unfinished tasks to remain more mentally accessible than completed ones. Waiters reportedly remembered unpaid orders better than settled ones.

Full answer

The Zeigarnik effect is the tendency for interrupted or unfinished tasks to remain more mentally accessible than completed ones. Psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik reportedly began with the observation that waiters remembered unpaid orders better than settled ones. Later studies show that motivation and the importance of the task can change the strength of the effect.

Topic directions

• Psychology
• Economics
• Cuisine

Short answer

The cheerleader effect is a small tendency for a face to be rated as more attractive within a group than when viewed alone. Vision rapidly forms an average impression, making individual irregularities less prominent.

Full answer

The cheerleader effect is a small tendency for a face to be rated as more attractive within a group than when viewed alone. Human vision rapidly forms an average impression of the group, making individual irregularities less prominent. The name came from a sitcom before researchers tested it, and the measured effect is usually modest.

Topic directions

• Theatre
• Psychology
• Sports

Short answer

Bike-shedding describes a group rushing through a costly, complicated decision because few people understand it, then arguing endlessly about a small familiar detail.

Full answer

Bike-shedding describes a group rushing through a costly, complicated decision because few people understand it, then arguing endlessly about a small familiar detail. The name comes from a story about a committee that quickly approved a nuclear reactor but spent ages discussing its bicycle shed.

Topic directions

• Organizations
• Transport
• Architecture

Short answer

Yak shaving is a chain of necessary-looking side tasks that carries you further from the original job. You set out to hang a picture, then search for screws, repair a drawer, and never hang it.

Full answer

Yak shaving is a chain of necessary-looking side tasks that carries you further and further from the original job. You set out to hang a picture, then search for screws, repair a drawer, and reorganize the toolbox—yet never hang it. Each step may be reasonable, but the chain makes the main goal easy to lose.

Topic directions

• Organizations
• Sports
• Botany

Short answer

The bus factor is the number of key people a team could lose before its work could no longer continue. A factor of one means it all sits with a single person.

Full answer

The bus factor is the number of key people a team could lose before its work could no longer continue. A factor of one means critical knowledge sits with a single person; shared documentation, rotating ownership, and cross-training all raise it.

Topic directions

• Organizations
• Sports
• Finance

Short answer

The Streisand effect happens when an attempt to hide, delete, or suppress information attracts curiosity and leads to more searches, copies, and reposts.

Full answer

The Streisand effect happens when an attempt to hide, delete, or suppress information attracts curiosity and leads to more searches, copies, and reposts. It is named after Barbra Streisand's effort to remove an aerial photograph of her home. Suppression does not always backfire, but power and censorship often drive the reaction.

Topic directions

• Language
• Telecommunications
• Film

Short answer

Cunningham's Law observes that a direct question online may be ignored, while a confident but incorrect answer often attracts quick corrections and explanations.

Full answer

Cunningham’s Law observes that a direct question online may be ignored, while a confident but incorrect answer often attracts quick corrections and explanations. It is named after wiki pioneer Ward Cunningham, not a scientific law, and deliberately posting falsehoods can still destroy trust.

Topic directions

• Economics
• Telecommunications
• Language

Short answer

The cobra effect is an incentive that makes the problem it was meant to solve worse. A story says British officials paid for dead cobras, so people bred them.

Full answer

The cobra effect is an incentive that makes the problem it was meant to solve even worse. A famous story says British officials paid for dead cobras and encouraged people to breed them; the historical details are uncertain, but perverse incentives are real.

Topic directions

• Economics
• Military
• Biology

Short answer

A market for lemons forms when sellers know product quality better than buyers. Buyers fear receiving something poor and offer only an average price, so sellers of better goods withdraw.

Full answer

A market for lemons forms when sellers know product quality better than buyers. Buyers fear receiving something poor and offer only an average price, so sellers of better goods withdraw, lowering the average quality still further. Used cars are the classic example; warranties, inspections, and trusted brands can reduce this problem of adverse selection.

Topic directions

• Cuisine
• Economics
• Botany

Short answer

Dutch disease describes a resource boom that strengthens a country's currency and pulls investment and workers towards oil or gas. Other exporters then become less competitive and may shrink.

Full answer

Dutch disease describes a resource boom that strengthens a country's currency and pulls investment and workers towards oil, gas, or another booming sector. Other exporters then become less competitive and may shrink. The name arose from Dutch natural-gas wealth; careful saving, investment, and diversification can reduce the damage.

Topic directions

• Economics
• Botany
• Medicine

Short answer

Shoe-leather costs are the extra time and transaction costs people incur when high inflation makes holding cash expensive, such as moving money more often.

Full answer

Shoe-leather costs are the extra time and transaction costs people incur when high inflation makes holding cash expensive, such as moving money or buying short-term assets more often. Online banking saves literal footsteps, but not the burden of constant money management.

Topic directions

• Transport
• Economics
• Crafts

Short answer

Menu costs are the practical costs of changing a price: deciding the new figure, updating labels or software, informing customers, and handling complaints. Prices therefore stay temporarily sticky.

Full answer

Menu costs are the practical costs of changing a price: deciding the new figure, updating labels or software, informing customers, and handling complaints. A small adjustment may not be worth that effort, so prices remain temporarily sticky. The name evokes reprinting restaurant menus, although digital pricing can make the cost much lower.

Topic directions

• Libraries
• Economics
• Cuisine

Short answer

Keynes compared markets to a newspaper beauty contest in which entrants chose not the face they liked best, but the one they expected most other people to choose.

Full answer

Keynes compared markets to a newspaper beauty contest in which entrants chose not the face they liked best, but the one they expected most other people to choose. Investors can likewise keep guessing what everyone else will guess, pushing prices away from their own view of value.

Topic directions

• History
• Economics
• Apparel

Short answer

The Red Queen hypothesis says a species must keep evolving simply to maintain its position because its predators, prey, parasites, and competitors are evolving too.

Full answer

The Red Queen hypothesis says a species must keep evolving simply to maintain its position because its predators, prey, parasites, and competitors are evolving too. The name recalls the Red Queen running to stay in the same place. It helps explain coevolution and sexual reproduction, but it does not drive every evolutionary change.

Topic directions

• History
• Games
• Biology

Short answer

The Brazil nut effect is the tendency for larger pieces in a shaken mixture to rise towards the top, like large nuts in a container of smaller ones.

Full answer

The Brazil nut effect is the tendency for larger pieces in a shaken mixture to rise towards the top, like large nuts in a container of smaller ones. Small particles filling gaps, circulation through the bulk, and friction can all contribute. Certain combinations of density and vibration can even reverse the effect.

Topic directions

• Botany
• Physics
• Cuisine