I am learning about five terms per day in 2021 from what I read and podcasts I listen to. Of those, not all are interesting, or potentially useful to try to retain in my vocabulary since I can’t remember all the terms I learn. However, every now and then, I find upon terms that I deem to be both, interesting and useful, to me, and will write more about them to share with readers, as well as help retain them in my memory since writing about things helps me retain things better. I will also include the sources from where I learned of these terms, which I always catalogue as tweets on my DigitalCitizen Twitter account that you can follow if you like learning about new terms on an almost daily basis. Today’s terms for sharing include inverse charisma, crown shyness, and foodprint, each with definitions.

 

Inverse Charisma

The ability to bring more charisma out of people than they thought they had
(coined by ? to describe the writer E.M. Forster in person)

This is a beautiful term, to not only realize, but live! Too many of us are too self-centered these days in our interactions with others. To be able to interact with others and bring more than the best out of them each time, rather than showing the best of us, or doing both, is a noble goal to aspire to socially, in my opinion. I now not only have a term for it, but a mindset to go with it, with “inverse charisma”. I will also be looking for people who can do this to me when I interact with them, because if they were doing this, then I wouldn’t need to be trying to show the best me. In fact, I shouldn’t be given they will do a better job! Further, nobody would be thinking I were trying to “be” anything in said interactions. And I want to be able to do the same for everyone else with whom I interact.

How one goes about getting inverse charisma is relatively easy in theory, but hard in practice. Be present in the moment, listen to them, let them talk, prompt them with questions on things you know they’re excited to talk about. Now, for people who already do this out of vanity, people will know that’s not charisma, and you should, too. Find something more authentic they can talk about, and would be willing to exchange to hear about your experiences or thoughts, as they wouldn’t know it all. Can you do it for everybody? Who knows? But I’d say there’s no harm in trying with everyone.

 

 

Crown Shyness

A mysterious phenomenon where the branches of some trees avoid touching the branches of another in natural growth

This is just a cool feature to see, and wonder why it might be. Party trivia, perhaps, but trivia of wonderment, not triviality! Check out the My Modern Met article in the tweet below!

 

 

Foodprint

The environment footprint of what you eat

This is a word the world desperately needed. Practical to keep in mind for your food consumption, you could explain it every time you thought or talked about it, or now just use the word described. Better yet, the BBC, from where I learned the word in the tweet below, has a calculator that you can try for yourself to get some idea of your foodprint!

 

 

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