According to the Guardian, the word “Haram” was just added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. I was under the impression it was in there all this time, but I guess not?
Here are some of the newcomers:
Acai
The small, dark purple, berrylike fruit found in central and south
America has been known by this word since 1868 but its place in the
dictionary has been forced by a recent fad that claims it is an aid to
dieting
Goji
A big year for berries all round, with the dark red mildly tart bruit
of a mainly Asian shrub making its entry thanks to its new popularity as a
flavour in drinks
Haram
Items, usually foods, forbidden under Islamic law
Memory foam
Another recent fad, this time for a mattress that supposedly
remembers the shape of your back
Neuroprotective
One of several new words relating to health and medicine,
it refers to drugs that protect neurons from injury or degeneration
Reggaeton
Another fusion word, in this case relating to the union of rap
and Caribbean rhythms in popular Puerto Rican music
For the past few years, I’ve been using dual-monitors while working (or browsing). Once you start using multiple monitors, you’ll never want to go back to using just one….unless you’re forced to (ie laptops). Since I’ve grown pretty accustomed to my dual-lcd setup…I thought to myself…does it really increase productivity? Or am I just imagining that I’m able to get more done? Does it really save me any time…by allowing me to do things like not constantly minimize/maximize my Outlook window?
A quick search yielded this article from LifeHacker. They’ve summarized it nicely by saying:
Survey after survey shows that whether you measure your productivity in facts researched, alien spaceships vaporized, or articles written, adding an extra monitor will give your output a considerable boost — 20 percent to 30 percent, according to a survey by Jon Peddie Research.
So it’s great to know that it was money wisely spent!
Is it just me or doesn’t vitaminwater (the 10 calorie version) have a strong aftertaste? I recently bought a big pack of vitaminwater from costco (like 24 bottles). It comes in 3 different flavors (energy/citrus, pomegranate, and lemonade). the first time i sipped one, which was the pomegranate flavor, i’m like ‘ughh…this almost tastes like the regular version but not quite and with a strong aftertaste.’ it’s like a similar aftertaste you get from diet soda. no one will tell you that a diet coke tastes exactly the same as regular coke. (i prefer pepsi myself).
i had several more bottles since, each time telling myself, maybe i’ll grow to like it, like i did with diet pepsi. but no, i’m still not a big fan of this 10 calorie version of vitaminwater, only because of the aftertaste that their sweeteners leave behind. they even claim “naturally sweetened”. well it doesn’t taste like natural sugar to me. I give it a grade of D….below expectations, but there aren’t many good alternatives for flavored drinks that aren’t super high in calories or sugar. can anyone recommend their favorites?
