Curiosity Daily

Butterfly Effect, How to Cry at Work, Eggcorns in Language

Episode Summary

Learn about the butterfly effect; why language mistakes called “eggcorns” still make sense; and tips for crying at work.

Episode Notes

Learn about the butterfly effect; why language mistakes called “eggcorns” still make sense; and tips for crying at work.

The stories in this episode originally aired August 8, 2018 https://omny.fm/shows/curiosity-daily/the-butterfly-effect-is-why-we-can-t-predict-weath   

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Episode Transcription

CODY: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Discovery. I’m Cody Gough.

ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn why the “butterfly effect” makes it impossible to predict the weather; why common language mistakes called “eggcorns” somehow still make sense; and what to do when you feel like you’re going to cry at work. We originally ran these stories on August 8, 2018, and they’re so good, we remastered them just for you.

CODY: Plus, stick around for a brand-new recap segment at the end of today’s episode to hear our fresh takes on all of today’s stories. But right now? Prepare to feel immersed in our old studio — you’ll know what I mean in a second — and let’s satisfy some curiosity.

RECAP

CODY: Hey, we’re back in 2022! Let’s recap what we learned today.

  1. CODY: It’s impossible to predict the weather thanks to the butterfly effect. That’s the idea that a butterfly can flap its wings somewhere and set off a tornado thousands of miles away. The butterfly effect was discovered by a meteorology professor named Edward Lorenz in the 1960s, when he made a small change to some data into a computer program, went to get some coffee, and came back to see a massive change in the simulation. So remember to cut your local meteorologist some slack.
  2. ASHLEY: An “eggcorn” is a language mistake that somehow makes sense. It’s defined as “a word or phrase that sounds like and is mistakenly used in a seemingly logical or plausible way for another word or phrase.” And it’s up to you whether you want to correct a person for using them!
  3. CODY: If you find yourself crying at work, then try to reframe your emotions. Your colleagues will see you as more competent if you tell them you’re crying out of passion, and your next best option is apologizing. The worst option is to ignore it and pretend nothing happened, so maybe don’t do that.

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CODY: Today’s writers were Ashley Hamer, Joanie Faletto, and Jessica Stillman. 

ASHLEY: Curiosity Daily is distributed by Discovery.

CODY: [AD LIB SOMETHING FUNNY] join us again next time to learn something new in just a few minutes.

ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!