Nerve Endings Firing Away

As I bid farewell to College Station, we looked forward to our move to Austin. We had been eyeing the city as our future home for a long time; its liberal leanings and options for the outdoors definitely helped. We began packing just after Ash received her offer although we assumed her visa processing would [...]

In less than two days, we’ll be moving to Austin after spending nearly eight years in College Station. This was much longer than my time in Atlanta and definitely more eventful in terms of life experiences. I arrived College Station to begin a new life academically and it was a critical juncture personally. The move [...]

Few weeks ago, Fluffy or as most of us originally know him, Curious Gawker corrected me on my usage of the #humblebrag tag on Twitter. Considering I am either humble or extremely pretentious on Twitter, he definitely caught me trying to tread the middle ground. I like to pretend I’m cool like the kids so a lesson here and there helps. That and also, I hate seeing terms or the craze of our generation, the hashtags, being misused. That brings me to how people use or rather misuse the #TWSS or #TWHS, which stands for ‘That’s What She Said’ and ‘Thats What He Said’. The former is the original and the latter was invented by women who wanted to be as crass as most guys.

Instead of attempting to explain what the term means, let me simply defer to that all-knowing source on the Internet that is called Urban Dictionary ^[1]. It defines TWSS as:

A phrase used to turn a simple comment into a sexual joke
simple.

E.g. “This Math exam. Man, it’s so hard!” .. “that’s what she said”

More complex: “every time I pull it out I almost break my back” .. “that’s what she said”

Basically, the idea is to insert sexual innuendo when people are least expecting it thereby introducing awkwardness or disgust in the people who said it. It also usually has the added benefit of showing you in a good light sexually unless your brand of humor is be self-deprecating. Also, the joke is funnier if the sexual pun is not evident or obvious.

However, the way I have seen people use it on Twitter is to use TWSS if a woman says the original sentence or TWHS if a man says the original sentence. Such usage simply makes me #facepalm (look, another hashtag; more on that next time). If a guy ends up using TWHS or if a woman uses TWSS, then it automatically implies that they are gay which I know for a fact for some people that they are not. So unless they’re being sexually self-deprecating to a great extent or are simply clueless, don’t use the hashtags this way please. I’ve DM-ed (not a sexual act but simply means direct-messaged someone on Twitter) some people I know well ^[2] and asked them if that’s what they meant. Almost always their reaction is that they didn’t know that’s how you use TWSS or TWHS. Just because a guy said it doesn’t qualify it for TWHS and vice versa for a woman.

I hope that cleared up lots of misconceptions. Next Twitter lesson: TBD.

Footnotes:

1. Don’t be addicted to this site. There is a perverse meaning to everything innocent you say [↩]
2. see, @c_gawker, I don’t shame people publicly. Hrmph! [↩]

If this was Twitter, I would be saying, RT if you agree. But no one would have:

“I only ever wanted to be the man who loves children. But from the moment they’re born, that baby comes out and you act proud and excited, hand out cigars. But you don’t feel anything. Especially if you had a difficult childhood. You want to love them but you don’t. And the fact that you’re faking that feeling makes you wonder if your own father had the same problem. [Sigh.] Then one day they get older, and you see them do something and you feel that feeling that you were pretending to have. And it feels like your heart is going to explode.”

Source: Mad Men review: The Flood, Martin Luther King episode – Slate Magazine.

PS. I did not have a difficult childhood. At least I don’t think I did.

I usually end up leaving at about 6:20, with a coffee thermos, a bottle of water, and NPR podcasts loaded up. Getting out of College Station is not a hassle. I end up beating the traffic that generally starts at around 7-7:30 which is generally a good time for everyone else that works in town [...]

This week, the Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments on Proposition 8 in California that banned gay marriage. Rumors are circulating that if nothing else, the SCOTUS will not uphold Prop.8, which if you’re aware of the composition of the Court is surprising. Over the past couple of years, gay marriage has reached a tipping [...]

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If you’re an avid RSS feed reader, you may have encountered the brouhaha of Google shutting down Reader, one of the web’s prominent feed reader. As users scramble to find an alternative and I’m one of them, I have decided to preempt Google by moving away from its services that it may consider shutting down [...]

At 10:35am, Bill Gates walked on stage amidst thunderous applause and flashing of hundreds of Apple and Android cameras. Just like the dork he is known to be, he acknowledge the applause for an instant and dived into his speech. He was delivering the closing keynote at the SXSWedu at Austin. This is the latest [...]

The few weeks just after winter and before the blazing summer hits, is probably the best time to be in Texas. This year especially so because the winter was not as harsh. We haven’t have a snow or an ice day in two years now and for what it’s worth, I don’t envy our northern [...]

After nearly four years of using my trusted old late-2008 MacBook Pro, I finally upgraded to the much-talked about MacBook Pro Retina Display. To be fair, it is a work laptop so doesn’t technically belong to me. However, I have admin access so can install all the apps I have bought. The Retina Display is [...]

Twelve and a half years. That’s long how it took me to visit the city that most tourists visit in their first trip to the U.S. The lure of Las Vegas never attracted me much. I don’t gamble, I don’t smoke, and I don’t even drink much so Vegas would’ve little to offer me. Well, [...]

ARTICLE 19 (A) of the Constitution enshrines our right to free speech. But Article 19.2 restricts it on the grounds of public order, morality and decency, security of the State, sedition, friendly relations with foreign countries, defamation, contempt of court and incitement to an offence. Unfortunately, these clauses are very loosely worded and have become [...]

On Twitter today, I spotted this image that epitomizes the problems women face in Delhi. Take a bow, Delhi ladies, for being so creative & graceful while putting us in our place. twitpic.com/bzka8k — AM (@cyclingsultan) January 30, 2013 At first glance, most will agree with the sentiments expressed by the person sharing the image. [...]

His impersonation of a Kenyan accent was almost spot-on; especially admirable since he was imitating his sister, Alma’s voice. Her story narrated in his voice with a Kenya accent added that extra bit of special sauce. These deft touches made listening to Barack Obama’s ‘Dreams from my Father’ an enjoyable experience. Yes, I said listening, [...]