TIL 'hack' doesn't really mean hack anymore and I'm salty about it

I spent 20 minutes watching a video titled 'life hack for organizing your fridge' and it was just putting labels on bins with a label maker. Back in 2010 a hack meant some clever code trick that saved you hours of work. Am I the only one who thinks we watered this word down to nothing?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly3851mo agoMost Upvoted

So is my life hack for falling asleep just closing my eyes or do I need a whole YouTube tutorial? I miss when a hack was something that actually felt clever, not just basic adulting advice. If I see one more "hack" that's just storing your bananas away from other fruit I'm going to lose it. At this rate my grandmother's tip about putting a wooden spoon on a boiling pot is probably a premium life hack now. Yeah, we absolutely ruined that word, but at least we still have "glitch" to misuse in another decade.

the_holly1mo ago

And don't even get me started on people calling their morning coffee routine a "hack," @kelly385, like that's not just making a cup of coffee the normal way. Next thing you know, breathing through your nose will be a premium life hack behind a paywall.