Some fanciful terms for the human body have existed for centuries, and are now more commonly used than their scientific alternatives. Let’s look at the origins behind wisdom teeth.
Imagine telling a non-native English speaker that after having your wisdom teeth removed, you slipped and hit your noodle on the door and then banged your funny bone on the way down. It sounds more like a children’s rhyme than a real-life accident, doesn’t it? But many of these fanciful terms for the human body have existed for centuries, and are now more commonly used than their scientific alternatives. Let’s look at the origins behind one of the most popular quirky anatomical nicknames: wisdom teeth.
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Wisdom teeth are our third and final set of molars that generally appear between the ages of 17 and 25. They look just like the other molars, but they got a special nickname because of their timing. They usually break through the gums around the time that adolescents transition into adulthood. During these formative years, we grow more intelligent and we grow one more set of teeth, hence the nickname.
The etymological origins of “wisdom teeth” in English date back to the 1660s, when the molars were known as “teeth of wisdom.” But you can also go back thousands of years earlier and find that the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates referred to these teeth as sophronisteres — a translation of the phrase “prudent teeth.” In ancient Rome, the teeth were referred to in Latin as dentes sapientiae, which means “wisdom teeth.”
Referring to them as “wisdom teeth” is far from an exclusively English phenomenon, as many other languages also drew inspiration from those early Greek and Latin terms. In Spanish, the molars are known as muelas del juicio (“teeth of judgment”), and in Arabic they’re called ders-al-a’qel (“teeth of the mind”).
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Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
As we flip the calendar from summer to fall, big changes start happening. One month you’re dressing up in a spooky costume, the next you’re carving up a turkey, and the next you’re singing carols in the snow. (And if you pay attention to retail stores’ decorations, you might never know what month you’re in.) But while September, October, November, and December are celebrated quite differently, they were all named in a similar manner by the ancient Romans.
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The original Roman calendar had 10 months, beginning with March. The first four months of the year — March, April, May, and June — were named after gods and Latin verbs. The remaining months were named based on their order in the year. Quintilis and Sextilis — the original names of July and August — translate to “fifth month” and “sixth month.” Similarly, the names for September, October, November, and December corresponded to the (now-inaccurate) numbers of the months: septem (seven), octo (eight), novem (nine), and decem (10).
When January and February were officially added to create the Julian calendar around 150 BCE, every month on the Roman calendar shifted back two spots. Even though September is now the ninth month of the year, it remains the “seventh month” in a lexicographical sense. This quirk also applies to October, November, and December.
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Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
It’s one of the most commonly used words in the English language — so ubiquitous and so short that it slips by almost unnoticed. But “is” is important, and it does some heavy lifting.
Most people have probably said the word “is” more times than their own name (it’s in this edition 30 times). It’s such a common term, in fact, that you might not have stopped to think about what “is” really … is. Thankfully, the answer is rather simple. In English, there are eight basic parts of speech: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, articles, prepositions, and conjunctions. “Is” falls squarely into the verb category, as it’s a conjugation of the verb “to be.”
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“To be” is one of those irregular verbs that you just have to memorize. In the present tense, the conjugation is: “I am,” “you are,” “we are,” “they are,” and “he/she/it is.” “Is” is the third-person singular form.
“Is” commonly acts as a linking verb — a type of verb that doesn’t describe an action, but still builds a bridge between the subject and the predicate. Take these examples: “Mona is my cousin,” “Your dress is beautiful,” and “She is 25 years old.” In these instances, “is” links the subject (“Mona,” “dress,” “she”) to another noun (“my cousin”), adjective (“beautiful”), or longer clause (“25 years old”).
When “is” serves as an auxiliary verb, it’s a helper verb that lends support to the main verb of a sentence. For instance: “It is going to rain on Saturday” and “Mom is buying a cake for the party.” In both of these cases, “is” is not the main verb, but rather a verb that lends support to the main verbs “going” and “buying.” The purpose of using the auxiliary verb is to add meaning, clarify tense, or shape mood.
Watch out for “is” and tipping your sentences into passive voice. We’ll cover this more in a future edition, but for now, if “is” is the main verb in your sentence, try to rework it to use a more active verb. (Example: “The guitar is being played by Jaime” vs. “Jaime played the guitar.”) Sentences that rely on “is” and passive voice can be unnecessarily confusing. This simple act of self-editing can bring your sentences into an unmistakably clear and active voice.
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
Starting about 10 to 15 years ago, “cutting the cord” became a big phrase in regard to technological independence. We were saying goodbye to wired internet connections, eschewing cable services in exchange for streaming platforms, and replacing home phones with mobile-only lines. “Cut the cord” has long been an idiom used to describe a greater sense of independence, but it is not limited to and didn’t start with technology (even though “cord” may imply as such).
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The word “cord” first appeared in English during the 1300s, long before cable television existed. It came from the Old French corde, and it meant “a string or small rope composed of several strands twisted or woven together.” During the late 14th century, “cord” took on a more figurative meaning, referring to anything that binds or restrains. In a technological sense, many materials have been used for cords. In the 1720s, scientists discovered that electricity could travel along metal, but the first power distribution system wasn’t invented until 1882, by Thomas Edison. He used copper rods, wrapped in a natural jute fiber, overlaid with a coal-like substance. The next progression came from Charles Goodyear: He patented vulcanized rubber in 1844 and it was applied to electricity in the late 19th century through the 1940s. The most current iterations of cords use PVC to insulate the metal wires. With the advent of battery technology, the word “cordless” became a popular term in 1905, specifically with regards to items that were battery-powered.
The first recorded use of the expression “cut the cord” was in 1950 in Roosevelt in Retrospect, a book by John Gunther. In that work, Gunther wrote, “Step by step, little by little, FDR became free [of his mother’s influence.] In a sense, it was the paralysis that cut the cord.” This usage referred to a mother’s umbilical cord, and a metaphorical attachment to a child later in life. A similar idiom, “cutting the apron strings,” also refers to an extended (sometimes unhealthy) attachment to a mother.
Idioms tend to have a life of their own, though, and while the original usage was related to mothers and children, the wording was too perfect not to be imbued with a stronger technological connotation in the 21st century. This was due to the very literal shift away from the cords of physical electronics. When somebody cancels their cable subscription and signs up for a streaming service, or finally unplugs that last telephone jack, that person has “cut the cord.”
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
Sometimes shorter is better, especially when it comes to lines at the airport or how long you wait on hold with the cable company. Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet that brevity is the source of wit; it’s also the key component of abbreviations. Certain abbreviations have become an indelible part of the English lexicon, and some of these newly coined phrases have superseded their original meaning altogether. For instance, if you say, “répondez s’il vous plaît,” you’re likely to get confused stares. But write “RSVP” on an invitation, and people will know exactly what you mean.
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The point of abbreviations is to make things more concise and easy to understand, but there are different types, and the distinctions affect how they are used. Any shortening of a word or term is an abbreviation (from the Latin brevis, meaning “short”), but two of the more popular forms are acronyms and initialisms. Let’s take a look at what makes each one unique.
An acronym is a word formed from specific letters of the individual words it represents. Most often this means taking the first letter of each of those words — for example, “NASA” stands for “National Aeronautics and Space Administration.” Another defining trait for acronyms is how they’re pronounced: An acronym sounds like a word in itself instead of a series of individual letters. Other familiar acronyms include “POTUS” (president of the United States), “VIN” (vehicle identification number), and one of the most recent, “YOLO” (you only live once). Occasionally, an acronym will become so ubiquitous that it’s adopted as a standard word in the dictionary — “radar” (radio detection and ranging) and “scuba” (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus), for example.
Initialisms are formed in the same way as acronyms, often using the first letters of each word. (An exception might be if a second letter is chosen, or an article is skipped.) The major difference, however, is that each individual letter of the initialism is pronounced. Common examples include “USA” (United States of America), “HTML” (Hypertext Markup Language), and “BTW” (by the way). BTW, there are a few, albeit rare examples of abbreviations that can be treated as both acronyms and initialisms. One prime example of this is “ASAP,” which is commonly pronounced as either “EH-sap” or “A-S-A-P.”
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
Grammar 101 tells us that a common noun is any person, place, or thing. But when does a noun become a proper noun? Despite what the name may suggest, proper nouns have nothing to do with good etiquette, wearing a tuxedo, or having a British accent. Instead, the term refers to a noun that’s one-of-a-kind — a specific and individual person, place, or organization. Take, for instance, the Taj Mahal. There’s only one in the world. This means “Taj Mahal” is a proper noun, whereas the words “mausoleum” and “landmark” are more generic common nouns that could refer to the Taj Mahal, or a number of other places.
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Proper nouns include people’s names, even if several folks share the same moniker. While there may be hundreds of individuals in the world named “Sandra Jones,” only one of them sits next to you at work. That level of specificity is enough to have their name classified as a proper noun. Brand names are proper nouns because there’s a distinction between “cookie” (a common noun referring to anything under the cookie umbrella) and “Oreo” (a proper noun designating the specific chocolate sandwich cookie originally made by the Nabisco company).
The easiest way to spot a proper noun in English is to look for capitalization. If someone writes the phrase “I like dolphins,” you can assume they’re referring to the animal in general. But if you see “I like the Dolphins,” it’s fair to assume they’re referring to the very specific NFL team called the Miami Dolphins. At the end of the day, specificity is the defining factor for proper nouns. If you’re talking about a person you know, a unique location, or the Big Mac you’re about to eat, chances are you’re using a proper noun.
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Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
When a certain nonsense word or spelling variation gets used often enough, it gains the attention of lexicographers and might eventually get the “official” dictionary seal of approval.
What do abominable snowmen and umpires have in common? Neither was supposed to be a real word. These terms — and others, including “nickname,” “syllabus,” and “expediate” — are the result of spelling errors or mistranslations that made their way into mainstream English. When a certain word or spelling variation gets used often enough, it gains the attention of lexicographers and might eventually get the “official” dictionary seal of approval. Let’s take a closer look at some words that started their journey into English as mistakes.
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Nickname
We venture to say that as long as humans have been giving each other names, they’ve been shortening and familiarizing those names. In Middle English, the word for this familiarization was “ekename,” which literally meant “also-name.” The modern English word “nickname” evolved as a misdivision (a linguistic term that describes when spelling mix-ups occur between syllables over time) of the two words “an ekename.” By the 15th century, the word “nekename” was solidified into English, and eventually, the spelling evolved into the modern English variation of “nickname.”
Abominable Snowman
The name for the mythical mountain beast arose as a mistranslation of a Tibetan name in the 1920s. A journalist was interviewing members of a 1921 Mount Everest expedition and incorrectly reported a name as metoh kangmi, meaning “filthy snowman.” The true name that the explorers gave the yeti (a Sherpa term) was likely a combination of mi (“person”) and dom (“black bear”). The word “abominable,” meanwhile, is a Middle English word meaning “causing moral revulsion” — quite a harsh mistranslation for the hairy Himalayan creature.
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Scandinavia
Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder changed European geography — or at least its spelling — forever when he called northern Europe “Scandinavia,” rather than “Scadinavia” (sans the first “n”). Pliny’s misspelling soon became commonplace, and the original name was left behind.
The name for this region (traditionally referring to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden) comes from the Germanic word Scadinavia, which evolved from skadinaujo, meaning “Scadia Island,” in which aujo means “thing on the water.” At the time of its Germanic naming, Scandinavia might have been an island, because the coastlines of the Baltic Sea have changed dramatically due to drainage, ice cap melt, and other natural events.
Syllabus
If it weren’t for a reading error, we would be checking our class “sittybos,” not “syllabus.” The word for a course outline originated in ancient Greece as sittybos, but when the Romans adopted the word into Latin, it was apparently misread and entered into official sources as syllabus. One of the earliest examples of this appears in Cicero’s At Atticum, a collection of letters between Cicero and his friend Titus Pomponius Atticus. Within the next few centuries, syllabus was inscribed into Late Latin, with no sight of the original sittybos.
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Umpire
“Umpire” entered English as a mistranslated French loanword. It stems from the Old French nonper, meaning “odd number, not even,” in reference to a third-party authoritative judge. When it was brought into English, the initial “n” was incorrectly dropped because the word was heard as “an oumpere.” The misdivision result, “umpire,” became the official English version of the word by the mid-14th century, when it was used as legal jargon. It was eventually brought into gaming and sports (where it’s most commonly used today) in the early 18th century.
Ingot
An ingot (a block made of a metal such as steel, gold, or silver) should be a “lingot.” When this word was adopted into English from French in the late 14th century, the “l” at the beginning of the word was dropped. English speakers thought that the French were saying l’ingot (or le ingot, where le means “the”), so they dropped the “l” because they assumed it was an article. “Lingot” originally came from the Old English goten, meaning “to pour.”
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Rachel is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance writer. When she's not writing, you can find her wandering through a museum, exploring a new city, or advocating the importance of the Oxford comma.
Cataracts in the forest, rhubarbs on the baseball field — what’s going on here? These phrases might sound like the makings of a nursery rhyme, but they’re in the context of little-used definitions of common words. In some cases, these obscure definitions are older than the words’ current primary uses, and they influenced the evolution of their modern definitions. Let’s learn more about how a cut can smart, why a stroll may be constitutional, and other lesser-known definitions.
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Rhubarb
Primary definition: The thick leaf stalks of a cultivated plant of the dock family, which are reddish or green and eaten as a fruit after cooking.
Lesser-known definition: A heated dispute.
Better known as a vibrantly red garden vegetable, “rhubarb” can also refer to an intense argument or controversy. This peculiar bit of American slang was popularized by sports broadcaster Red Barber in 1943 when he described a heated scuffle between baseball players. Even earlier, sports reporter Garry Schumacher used “rhubarb” when he compared an on-field baseball squabble to a tangled mess of stringy cooked rhubarb. Schumacher furthered the comparison while reminiscing about his childhood, when neighborhood children used rhubarb sandwiches as ammunition during food fights. To Schumacher, “rhubarb” was a shoo-in for sportscasting slang.
Across the pond, “rhubarb” has another industry-specific usage: In British theater circles, “rhubarb” is the sound from a group of background actors, intended to simulate indistinct conversation and general crowd noise.
Cataract
Primary definition: A medical condition in which the lens of the eye becomes progressively opaque, resulting in blurred vision.
Lesser-known definition: A large waterfall. A sudden rush of water; a downpour.
Today, it’s much more common to talk to an older relative about their cataract surgery than about an impressive waterfall, but the latter was the original usage of the word “cataract.” You might say, for example, “The log traversed the cataracts of the Niagara River,” or, “The storm brought cataracts of rain.” This original usage stems from the Latin cataracta, meaning “waterfall.” Cataracta has a secondary definition in Latin as well: portcullis, the word for a heavy iron gate found in medieval fortresses. The modern term for the ocular condition likely evolved from this definition — a gate is a blockage, just as a cataract blocks vision.
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Constitutional
Primary definition: (adjective) Relating to an established set of principles governing a state.
Lesser-known definition: (noun) A walk, typically one taken regularly to maintain or restore good health.
As a political buzzword, “constitutional” relates to set principles that govern a state. However, the wellness-related definition has been around longer. Since the 1680s, “constitutional” has been used as an adjective meaning “relating to someone’s physical or mental condition.” This evolved into the noun “constitutional” to describe a walk that had health benefits, as in, “The sunny autumn day was perfect for a constitutional.” Using “constitutional” in reference to being allowed by a state’s constitution came about in the mid-1800s.
Smart
Primary definition: (adjective) Having or showing a quick-witted intelligence.
Lesser-known definition: (verb) Feel or cause a sharp stinging pain.
“She tried to distract herself from the smarting of the bee sting.” Even if you had never heard of this usage of “smart,” you can tell from the context that it describes something painful. This less-common usage of “smart” is actually the oldest, found in Old English (as smeart) since at least the 12th century to describe a stinging action or feeling. The Old English variation smeortan meant “to be painful.” “Smart” wasn’t used to describe intelligence until the 17th century, perhaps stemming from the notion of using cutting or witty words — words that sting. In both usages — intelligence and pain — “smart” can be used as an adjective, noun, verb, and adverb.
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Husband
Primary definition: (noun) A married man considered in relation to his spouse.
Lesser-known definition: (verb) Use (resources) economically; conserve.
A husband is a married man, but if someone husbands their resources, it means that they are frugal, conservative, or thrifty. To use both versions in context: “My husband husbanded his strength during the first half of the marathon,” means the speaker’s spouse saved some energy for the final part of the race. “Husband” has been used as a synonym for “conserve” since the 15th century, but the definition of a male spouse is slightly older, from the Old English husbonda.
Mean
Primary definition: (verb) Intend to convey, indicate, or refer to (a particular thing or notion); signify.
Lesser-known definition: (adjective) Poor in quality and appearance; shabby.
“Mean” takes on many uses in English: a synonym for “malicious” or “unkind,” a mathematical average, and a word to convey intention (“You know what I mean?”), to name a few. Perhaps the least-used definition of “mean” refers to something as “inferior” or “of poor quality,” as in, “The roadside motel was mean, but we just needed a place to sleep for the night.” “Mean” has been used in this sense since the 14th century, when it was first used to describe people of lower rank or social class and evolved into describing objects and things as “run-down” or “lowly.”
Tattoo
Primary definition: (verb) Mark (a person or a part of the body) with an indelible design by inserting pigment into punctures in the skin.
Lesser-known definition: (noun) An evening drum or bugle signal recalling soldiers to their quarters.
The oldest definition of “tattoo” is also now the the least commonly used. Today, the word (used as a noun and a verb) is synonymous with decorative ink markings on the skin, but the original version of “tattoo” evolved from the 17th-century Dutch term taptoe. It meant “close the tap (of the cask),” from tap (“the faucet of a cask”) and toe (“shut”). The expression referred to the practice of police turning off tavern taps at closing time, and the phrase was adopted for the signal (drumming or trumpeting) used to call soldiers or sailors to quarters at the end of the night, as in, “The evening tattoo was heard throughout the barracks.” From that, “tattoo” came to mean any sort of rhythmic tapping.
“Tattoo” in the sense of body art has an entirely different etymology. It entered English in the mid-18th century from the Tahitian, Tongan, and Samoan word ta-tau.
Rachel is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance writer. When she's not writing, you can find her wandering through a museum, exploring a new city, or advocating the importance of the Oxford comma.
There are some ongoing debates where it’s impossible to come to a consensus — cats vs. dogs, Coke vs. Pepsi, summer vs. winter … the list goes on and on. But when it comes to grammar, there’s an explanation for every argument, no matter how confusing it may seem. Take, for instance, the debate over when to use “who” vs. “whom.” Some say that “whom” is archaic and outdated, while others insist that it still has an important role in the English language. Read on for a handy trick that will ensure you always know which “w” word to use, no matter the context.
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Here’s the technical rule: “Who” is used when referring to the subject of the sentence, and “whom” is used when referring to the object of a verb or preposition. But let’s try to explain that in a way that you’ll remember when you’re mid-conversation.
If a person has completed an action or is being discussed, that means they’re the subject of the sentence. In this case, you should use “who” — for example, “Who ate all the cake?” or “Who wrote this article?”But if a person is having (or has had) something done to them, they’re no longer the subject, but rather the object of the verb. “Whom” is more appropriate in these contexts: “Whom do you like best?” and “Whom are you going to meet?”
As for that simple trick to help you get “who vs. whom” right each and every time? If the question can be answered with “he,” “she,” or “they,” you should use “who.” For example: “Who ate all the cake? / He ate all the cake.” But if the question is better answered using “him,” “her,” or “them,” then “whom” is the right choice. As a memory aid, remember that if the potential answer could be “him” (even if it actually is “her”), use “whom,” because they both end in a letter “m.” “Whom are you going to meet? / I’m going to meet him/her/them.”We hope that clears things up, so go out there and spread the word of your mnemonic who/whom trick.
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
A preposition indicates the position of something or someone in relation to something else. But what’s so special about this part of speech and when do we need to use it?
Prepositions are a funny thing — not “haha” funny like your favorite stand-up comedian, but funny in the sense of wondering what they are and why you need them. A preposition isn’t a noun or verb; however, it adds plenty of context and nuance to a sentence. Prepositions can be a two-letter word or lengthy in the form of a prepositional phrase. But these vague descriptions probably don’t help to clear things up, so let’s review exactly what prepositions are and how they’re used. You’ll find that these words and phrases have been helping you communicate more clearly in almost everything you say.
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The secret to understanding prepositions lies in the word itself: pre-position. Each one indicates the position of something or someone in relation to something else. Common examples include in, on, above, underneath, through, across, with, near, and between. Prepositional phrases combine one of these words with a noun or pronoun: for example, “in Paris” or “above her.” Prepositional phrases on their own aren’t complete sentences, however, and you still need to add a subject or verb to flesh things out: “The dog was lost in Paris”and “the light flickered above her” are complete clauses.
Prepositions can replace certain parts of speech. If you say, “The lollipop in the jar is for Barry,” then the prepositional phrase “in the jar” is being used to describe a noun, thus placing it in the position of an adjective. Let’s put a true adjective in that example. “The red lollipop is for Barry” — notice that “red” is serving the same purpose as “in the jar” in this context. We can do the same thing with an adverb. In the example sentence “The man danced across the room,” we could replace the prepositional phrase “across the room” with any number of adverbs to describe how he danced, including “vigorously” or “badly.”
Why would we do this? It’s the same reason we use prepositions at all: They provide context and nuance to communication by giving more information about something’s position. Maybe you want to tell someone the color of Barry’s lollipop, or maybe you want to let the babysitter know where it is located for an after-dinner treat. Thanks to the flexibility of language and the multiple parts of speech, you get to decide.
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Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
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