Top Stories
Stories in FYI that you’ll love, handpicked by our team.
The Columbus Hoax: Who Really Discovered America?
On the second Monday in October, the people of the United States commemorate Columbus Day. This is the anniversary of the day in 1492 when European explorer Christopher Columbus “discovered America” by landing in the Bahamas and opening European exploration.
By Abhishek Chandra 4 years ago in FYI
When The Baby Boomer Generation Was "Cool" or "Gucci" in Millennial Speak
The Baby Boom Generation (born 1946–1964), was the coolest, hippest, most modern generation ever, or “Gucci” in Millennial Speak. Trust me — I looked it up. Google says that “Gucci” is the Millennial slang for “cool”, “good”, or “fine”.
By Joan Gershman4 years ago in FYI
A Dank History of Memes
I love memes. As a millennial, I remember the dawn of Facebook, the early days of MySpace, and some of the earliest memes to circulate the Internet. One day, I found myself wondering, what was the first meme? Well, I looked into it, so that you don’t have to. I dove deep into the dank history of Internet memes, and to do that, I had to go all the way back to the beginning of the Internet.
By Maria Wallisch4 years ago in FYI
Thomas Bowdler, Political Correctness and Scrabble
Our son came to visit back in 2018 and, as is our wont, we played many a game of Scrabble together. We play open book with a dictionary at hand, The Official Scrabble Player's Dictionary. I have an old, slightly battered Second Edition which came out in 1993. My son thought this was a bit outdated and surprised me with a gift of the latest Sixth Edition which includes many new words including emoji, facepalm, bitcoin and listicle. One of the current controversies is over the addition of "ok". Scrabble rules don't permit capital letters or proper names. The word used to be spelled OK but the spelling has been liberalized in recent years to permit ok in lower case. This is anathema to conservative purists but a boon to more liberal players who always are on the lookout for new two letter words.
By Marco den Ouden4 years ago in FYI
Why Chocolate is the Typical Valentine's Day Gift
Chocolate is one of the most commonly given gifts when it comes to Valentine's day. In fact, Valentine's day falls behind only easter and Christmas when it comes to chocolate and candy sales in the UK (and the USA for that matter). Of course, the idea of giving simple or ornate chocolates as a gift is older than all of these holidays, having roots in pre-Christian South America.
By S. A. Crawford4 years ago in FYI
The Science of Profanity
I have never needed a swear jar nor had my mouth washed out with soap. For most of my life, if a swear word slipped out, it was an accident, and I would immediately cover my mouth in embarrassment. For some reason, profanity doesn’t sound right coming from me. It’s like when a dog talks or a three-year-old says pontificate — people stop and stare.
By Jill (Conquering Cognitions)4 years ago in FYI







