Do you really know?

What is Squid Game? Thanks for asking! Since its release in September 2021, Squid Game has become the most popular Netflix show of all time. The South Korean production tells the dystopian tale of 456 people mired in debt, who face off against one another in survival games. The show has become the most-watched series in 90 countries. Along with other trials, the game of Statues takes place on a de...

What is wokeism? Thanks for asking!  The term “woke” took off in the United States in the 2010s. The past form of the verb “to wake” is used to imply an awakening to injustices inflicted upon minorities by an oppressive system.   Woke activists call out systemic racism and police violence against groups like Black Lives Matter. Since then, it has become a go-to in public and media debates. Its cri...

What is sex work? Thanks for asking! Sex work is basically a term used for any practices involving a sexual service, whether physical or not, in exchange for money.  Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not simply limited to prostitution. The term also includes lap dancing, phone sex, erotic massage and escort services for example. Not to mention online services like webcam performance and adult cont...

What is carbon footprint? Thanks for asking! Postponed for a year because of Covid-19, COP26 meets in Scotland from October 31 to November 12. A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the energy and raw material consumption of a person, organisation or event. It is measured in the volume of CO2 emitted. Per capita emissions in the USA are estimated at around 16 tons pe...

What is restless anal syndrome? Thanks for asking!  Although the global vaccination rate reached 40% in mid-October, Covid-19 clearly hasn’t gone away for good just yet. The most common symptoms of coronavirus are mostly well-known, but it keeps surprising us with new repercussions, like restless anal syndrome for example. On September 23rd, the BMC Infectious Diseases journal reported on the case...

What is eco-anxiety? Thanks for asking! The UN’s COP26 summit is due to start this Sunday, and it’s pretty clear to most of us that climate change is the most serious threat to our health. Of course it’s a physical threat, especially to the vulnerable, due to extreme weather events like heatwaves, storms and fires, which are increasingly frequent and intense.  But we mustn’t neglect the mental imp...

What is the metaverse? Thanks for asking! We had already had hints over the summer, but it’s now been confirmed by a recent statement from Facebook HQ. The Silicon Valley tech giant has big plans to hire 10,000 new highly-skilled staff in Europe over the next five years, as part of plans to develop the metaverse. It’s even planning to change its name, with a rebranding announcement expected any da...

What is Netflix? Thanks for asking! In its fifteen years of existence, Netflix has revolutionised the way we watch films and series, becoming synonymous with the explosion of online streaming.  The company actually started out as a DVD rental business in the United States before the turn of the century. But of course it's now known for its transformation into an on-demand streaming service, the fi...

What are e-cigarettes ? Thanks for asking!  The British government wants to get tough on smoking. On October 20, 2021, MPs submitted to Parliament an amendment to the Health Bill that would allow each cigarette to carry the words "Smoking kills". This is an opportunity to return to the term "e-cigarette". An e-cigarette is a vaporizer that simulates smoking without tobacco consumption. A product l...

What is Tinder? Thanks for asking! Since launching in the US in 2012, there’s no doubting Tinder has certainly revolutionized dating and relationships. According to Business of Apps, it has over 75 million monthly active users, making it the most used dating app worldwide. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Tinder, it’s just like any online dating platform in that you enter your personal de...

What is sportswashing? Thanks for asking!  Look out Premier League clubs, a new big boy is in town! That’s right, following approval of their acquisition by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Newcastle United has all of a sudden become one of the richest clubs in the world! While the Toon Army are celebrating their club’s new found wealth and dreaming of trophies to come in the future, other o...

What is Polexit? Thanks for asking! With Brexit finally having become a reality earlier this year, could other countries follow suit and leave the EU? Well the prospect of a similar Polexit isn’t outside the realms of possibility according to some observers.  To understand why the term is on everyone’s lips, you need to look back at what happened in Poland on October 7th. The country’s constitutio...

What is Generation Alpha? Thanks for asking! After Generation X, Generation Y (also known as the Millennials) and Gen-Z, where do you go next? Well back to the start of the alphabet as it turns out, albeit a different one! That’s right; Generation Alpha takes its name from the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and it’s the unofficial name for the successors of Gen Z. The term came from a survey...

What were the Troubles? Thanks for asking! The British government is stepping up its pressure on Brussels and demanding "significant changes" in the protocol governing post-Brexit customs arrangements specific to Northern Ireland. It’s been 23 years since the Good Friday peace agreement put an end to The Troubles, a decades-long period of violence which saw 3,500 people die. Nevertheless, in recen...

Who is Harlan Coben? Thanks for asking! His name might not be as familiar as that of Stephen King, but that hasn’t stopped novelist Harlan Coben achieving unrivalled success in his field, at least when it comes to book sales. After all, we’re talking 75 million copies of his 32 books printed and sold in over 40 countries worldwide. In his home country, the US, he has won pretty much every award ou...

What is plogging? Thanks for asking! We’ve covered several Scandinavian wellness trends in the past and here’s one which is good for both the body and soul. Plogging is a mash-up of the Swedish term “plocka upp”, which means picking up, and the English word “jogging”. So what are we picking up while jogging? Does it actually burn that many calories? How can I get started then? In under 3 minutes,...

What are the Pandora Papers? Thanks for asking! On October 3rd, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists began publishing leaked documents exposing the hidden assets of some of the world’s richest and most powerful people.  Five years after the Panama Papers revelations, the latest investigation, carried out over two years, represents the biggest ever leak of offshore data, showin...

What is degrowth? Thanks for asking!   Degrowth advocates believe that if we continue prioritising economic growth, political, environmental and geopolitical crises will only increase in number. It’s a form of opposition to consumerist society, all about the importance of the collective over the individual, and planet Earth over the human race. Where does the term come from? What are the arguments...

What is conversion therapy? Thanks for asking! In the midst of the scandal surrounding pedocriminality within the Catholic Church, conversion therapies have been voted to be banned in France on October 5, 2021. Conversion therapy, also known as homotherapy, is a pseudoscientific practice that seeks to convert homosexuals to heterosexuality, or at least encourage them to be abstinent. Largely pushe...

What is coolsculpting? Thanks for asking!  Just a couple of weeks ago, 90s catwalk star Linda Evangelista shared an emotional post on Instagram. The model revealed she had left the public eye for the last five years to hide the disastrous results of a coolsculpting procedure.  She has decided to sue Zeltiq Aesthetics, the company who markets CoolSculpting, for $50M, arguing the botched treatment h...

What is a bore-out? Thanks for asking! Hearing the term will likely make you think of another kind of psycho-social condition related to the world of work; that of a burnout. Well bore-outs are perhaps less well-known than their workaholic cousin, but they are actually much more common.  A Forbes article from January 2020 suggested that between 43% and 53% of employees are bored of their job. What...

Who is James Bond? Thanks for asking! Since its original planned release in March 2020, the 25th James Bond film has been pushed back over and over again. But good things come to those who wait as they say, and No Time To Die finally opened in cinemas around the UK last week. More than 60 years after the first 007 film was produced, any new instalment is still a major event in the cinematic calend...

What is reproductive health? Thanks for asking!  September 26, 2021, was World Contraception Day. The event was first held in 2007 by ten international family-planning organizations to raise awareness about contraception and help each new generation of adults make informed decisions until every pregnancy in the world is a planned one.  In other words, it promotes what is known as sexual and reprod...

What are LGBT-free zones? Thanks for asking! Monday September 27th, three Polish regions scrap anti-LGBT resolutions. The European Parliament declared the E.U. to be an LGBTIQ Freedom zone. That was in reaction to the increasing number of LGBT-free zones in Poland, which have been making headlines for the last two years. Poland has gained a reputation as the worst EU country for LGBT rights. If we...

What is Lagom? Thanks for asking! The Swedish term lagom is one of those words that doesn’t have an exact equivalent in English, yet it has caught on as a wellness trend. If you had to translate it, you’d probably go with something like “just the right amount” or “according to common sense.” It’s kind of similar to the expression “less is more” in intention, used as a contrast to the idea that mor...