The Genius Glossary by Tom Lehman Lyrics
Todopalm pusher, “doth protest too much”, high modernism, phatic, debouncing, cosign gesture, "scholars eyes on me", moduloDoneMetonymWhen you use a specific thing to describe a larger concept. E.g., why didn’t Mahbod sign up for Spotify sooner? Because, metonymically, the Weeknd wasn’t on spotify – i.e., Spotify’s catalog was mostly devoted to mainstream artists.
This example is actually an instance of a related concept, which is metonym and real. This describes the case when the thing is both a metonym – in this case it is true that Mahbod didn’t join Spotify because its catalog lacked breadth – and a stand-alone truth – i.e., had the Weeknd alone been on Spotify it would have been enough to get Mahbod to sign up. (The Weeknd is now on Spotify, btw)
"Synecdoche" means basically the same thing, and though some people act like there's a distinction between metonym and synecdoche, I've never understood or believed in it, so until I do please, just use "metonym".GettierShort for “Gettier case”, this is more just fun than anything else, but once you understand what a gettier is you’ll start seeing them everywhere. A phenomenon which is a metonym for why it’s important to give names to concepts.
A related concept is Gettieresque, which describes a situation in which you have the justified true belief that there’s a gettier lurking somewhere but you can’t (or don’t feel like) saying precisely what it is.MemeUseful but ruined because we use it to refer to everything. What’s the term for words that can mean anything? You know, like jawn? For now I’ll follow Tom Wolfe and call meme our “major abstract word”: (from The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test)Thousands of kids were moving into San Francisco for a life based on LSD and the psychedelic thing. Thing was the major abstract word in Haight-Ashbury. It could mean anything, isms, life styles, habits, leanings, causes, sexual organs(I actually use “thing” as a MAW a decent amount too – I first learned it from Mahbod who says it’s a Persian thing. I’m not sure whether he got it from Wolfe, though I know he’s a big fan (Mahbod of Wolfe, I mean))Bad PitchI got this from Dan who got it from his TV writer friend. When you have an idea but feel compelled to preface it with something like “here’s a thought, but I don’t really mean this exactly, I mean something like this but better, but I’m throwing this out there to get the conversation started”, you should just say “bad pitch” and say your idea.
It’s considered horrible etiquette to critique the specifics of someone’s bad pitch. That wasn’t the point!Armin van Buuren SituationA heated argument that ends up not mattering at all and looking ridiculous in retrospect.
The etymology here is from 2011 when Mahbod was putting a ton of pressure on Ilan and me to go to “Monster Massive”, a meme Halloween-themed EDM festival in LA. We – especially Ilan – were reluctant, more about committing absolutely to anything, especially something in LA, but we fought and fought and Mahbod kept bringing it up, until finally it ended in some kind of big fight.. and then Armin got sick and cancelled the concert. An Armin van Buuren situation par excellence!OrthogonalJust read Faucets and OrthogonalityWorse is Better (#WIB)The opposite of “Better is Better”. Read the article to understand the concept, but also note that you can always say “worse is better” to win an argument against someone who’s proposing some overly complicated first-cut solution.Second-Order EffectsThe indirect or unintended consequences of what you’re doing. For example, an intense interview process makes it easier to make hiring decisions, but it also has the second order effect of conveying to the candidate how seriously we take hiring.
You have to pay attention to second-order effects because the world is a very complicated and dynamic place. For example, imagine a law requiring people to wear bike helmets. This might have the positive first-order effect of making bicyclists safer, but what if the law causes people to bike less which reduces health overall because everyone gets less exercise? (Not to mention the main meme here which is risk compensation)“Nice Neg”This is something I like to say whenever someone says anything that could remotely be construed as a neg. [[ would be good to have an example here ]]. This is both kind of funny in itself, but it also underscores the important idea that you shouldn’t be worried about accidentally offending me with something you say.BBQ ChefThe person who owns a project. BBQ cheffing is also known as backstopping, because the backstop is what stops the ball even when the catcher misses it. Likewise, when you run a project, though you aren’t responsible for actually doing everything yourself, you are responsible for making sure it all gets done somehow.Imperial OverstretchWhat’s it called again when your giant, successful, empire tries to take on too much and cracks under the pressure?
This, according to Paul Kennedy, is what happened to the British Empire, and it’s also what could happen to the Genius Empire if we try to do too many big things at once. We are in the enviable position of being able to pursue lots of exciting directions (so was the British Empire..), but we must still pick a small number of things that really REALLY matter and focus on them.
The first recorded use of this term in connection with Genius is in The Launch Pad during the “Rap Genius office hours” segment:“I’m sure we can [effectively expand into non-rap subjects],” says Moghadam. But he says Lehman is the one who is reluctant to add another genre of music, like rock. “He’s always worried about ‘imperial overstretch,’” Moghadam says. “Tom has learned the lessons of the fall of the Roman Empire. Whereas me, I’m like Nero—I’m fiddling, and I just want to see it burn. I’m ready for Rock Genius.”“Feel Me!”This means “I feel you!”Down For Whatever (abbr. “dfw”)I occasionally say this to emphasize the fact that, tho I might have a strong opinion, I really want you to do what you think is right.
So, e.g., I might say something like “i think the button should be green but i’m dfw”, meaning “here’s my opinion, but I'm down for whatever”.
Now of course there’s always an implicit “do what you think is right” whenever I or anyone offer an opinion, but sometimes it’s good to really spell out that I am TRULY down for whatever.
This notion was also famously referenced in our joke-y Craigslist ad from which we hired Ezra!PhaticStrictly speaking this is a term from linguistics that describes expressions that are designed to perform a social function rather than convey information. For example, the greeting “what’s up?” is phatic – you’re not asking what’s literally up, nor are you even really asking what’s going on.
I use phatic more broadly to describe anything done for social, symbolic, or second-order reasons.Bong BongA nod to the RZA, this means “word” / “sounds good” / “bet”
This example is actually an instance of a related concept, which is metonym and real. This describes the case when the thing is both a metonym – in this case it is true that Mahbod didn’t join Spotify because its catalog lacked breadth – and a stand-alone truth – i.e., had the Weeknd alone been on Spotify it would have been enough to get Mahbod to sign up. (The Weeknd is now on Spotify, btw)
"Synecdoche" means basically the same thing, and though some people act like there's a distinction between metonym and synecdoche, I've never understood or believed in it, so until I do please, just use "metonym".GettierShort for “Gettier case”, this is more just fun than anything else, but once you understand what a gettier is you’ll start seeing them everywhere. A phenomenon which is a metonym for why it’s important to give names to concepts.
A related concept is Gettieresque, which describes a situation in which you have the justified true belief that there’s a gettier lurking somewhere but you can’t (or don’t feel like) saying precisely what it is.MemeUseful but ruined because we use it to refer to everything. What’s the term for words that can mean anything? You know, like jawn? For now I’ll follow Tom Wolfe and call meme our “major abstract word”: (from The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test)Thousands of kids were moving into San Francisco for a life based on LSD and the psychedelic thing. Thing was the major abstract word in Haight-Ashbury. It could mean anything, isms, life styles, habits, leanings, causes, sexual organs(I actually use “thing” as a MAW a decent amount too – I first learned it from Mahbod who says it’s a Persian thing. I’m not sure whether he got it from Wolfe, though I know he’s a big fan (Mahbod of Wolfe, I mean))Bad PitchI got this from Dan who got it from his TV writer friend. When you have an idea but feel compelled to preface it with something like “here’s a thought, but I don’t really mean this exactly, I mean something like this but better, but I’m throwing this out there to get the conversation started”, you should just say “bad pitch” and say your idea.
It’s considered horrible etiquette to critique the specifics of someone’s bad pitch. That wasn’t the point!Armin van Buuren SituationA heated argument that ends up not mattering at all and looking ridiculous in retrospect.
The etymology here is from 2011 when Mahbod was putting a ton of pressure on Ilan and me to go to “Monster Massive”, a meme Halloween-themed EDM festival in LA. We – especially Ilan – were reluctant, more about committing absolutely to anything, especially something in LA, but we fought and fought and Mahbod kept bringing it up, until finally it ended in some kind of big fight.. and then Armin got sick and cancelled the concert. An Armin van Buuren situation par excellence!OrthogonalJust read Faucets and OrthogonalityWorse is Better (#WIB)The opposite of “Better is Better”. Read the article to understand the concept, but also note that you can always say “worse is better” to win an argument against someone who’s proposing some overly complicated first-cut solution.Second-Order EffectsThe indirect or unintended consequences of what you’re doing. For example, an intense interview process makes it easier to make hiring decisions, but it also has the second order effect of conveying to the candidate how seriously we take hiring.
You have to pay attention to second-order effects because the world is a very complicated and dynamic place. For example, imagine a law requiring people to wear bike helmets. This might have the positive first-order effect of making bicyclists safer, but what if the law causes people to bike less which reduces health overall because everyone gets less exercise? (Not to mention the main meme here which is risk compensation)“Nice Neg”This is something I like to say whenever someone says anything that could remotely be construed as a neg. [[ would be good to have an example here ]]. This is both kind of funny in itself, but it also underscores the important idea that you shouldn’t be worried about accidentally offending me with something you say.BBQ ChefThe person who owns a project. BBQ cheffing is also known as backstopping, because the backstop is what stops the ball even when the catcher misses it. Likewise, when you run a project, though you aren’t responsible for actually doing everything yourself, you are responsible for making sure it all gets done somehow.Imperial OverstretchWhat’s it called again when your giant, successful, empire tries to take on too much and cracks under the pressure?
This, according to Paul Kennedy, is what happened to the British Empire, and it’s also what could happen to the Genius Empire if we try to do too many big things at once. We are in the enviable position of being able to pursue lots of exciting directions (so was the British Empire..), but we must still pick a small number of things that really REALLY matter and focus on them.
The first recorded use of this term in connection with Genius is in The Launch Pad during the “Rap Genius office hours” segment:“I’m sure we can [effectively expand into non-rap subjects],” says Moghadam. But he says Lehman is the one who is reluctant to add another genre of music, like rock. “He’s always worried about ‘imperial overstretch,’” Moghadam says. “Tom has learned the lessons of the fall of the Roman Empire. Whereas me, I’m like Nero—I’m fiddling, and I just want to see it burn. I’m ready for Rock Genius.”“Feel Me!”This means “I feel you!”Down For Whatever (abbr. “dfw”)I occasionally say this to emphasize the fact that, tho I might have a strong opinion, I really want you to do what you think is right.
So, e.g., I might say something like “i think the button should be green but i’m dfw”, meaning “here’s my opinion, but I'm down for whatever”.
Now of course there’s always an implicit “do what you think is right” whenever I or anyone offer an opinion, but sometimes it’s good to really spell out that I am TRULY down for whatever.
This notion was also famously referenced in our joke-y Craigslist ad from which we hired Ezra!PhaticStrictly speaking this is a term from linguistics that describes expressions that are designed to perform a social function rather than convey information. For example, the greeting “what’s up?” is phatic – you’re not asking what’s literally up, nor are you even really asking what’s going on.
I use phatic more broadly to describe anything done for social, symbolic, or second-order reasons.Bong BongA nod to the RZA, this means “word” / “sounds good” / “bet”