Infographic Friday

From Visually.

Our dictionary has been embiggened

Merriam-Webster just added 850 words, including a popular term from The Simpsons. From Merriam-Webster.com.

The Dictionary Just Got a Whole Lot Bigger

Everyday terms that have seen increasing use include life hack and hate-watch. Bandwidth is now often used figuratively to mean "emotional or mental capacity." Our online lives have given us embiggen and subtweet. Even more colorful language is on display with dumpster fire, used to mean "disaster," and mansplain, a word that dates back only to 2008 but has quickly shown its utility. 

Finally, we see the inclusion of an increasing number of interjections and respellings, in part because communication via electronic text increasingly uses approximations of speech, including hmm, ooh, mm-hmm, and, welp, welp. Which just goes to show that the dictionary can still be useful for providing meanings even when you're speechless.

The most popular drink in Tennessee?

Jack and Coke, natch. A rather unscientific poll, but then again, maybe most popular and most iconic aren't the same thing. Iowa's is Busch Light? And Minnesota's is a beertini? A beer with olives? From Buzzfeed.

Here Are The Most Iconic Drinks From Each US State

42. Tennessee: Jack and Coke. 

"I’m from Tennessee, so I’d say probably Jack and Coke. That, and any kind of beer from independent brewers." —sarahtaylorc

No problem

Why is there a war on you're welcome? I thought we could blame the Millennials, but no. People want to appear humbe and not seek praise for doing their job. From MSN.com.

Why Don't We Say 'You're Welcome' Anymore?

“I think people worry that with ‘you’re welcome,’ it’s an expectation that this person should have thanked you and they did in fact do the right thing,” Emily Post’s great-granddaughter Lizzie Post, co-host of the Emily Post Institute’s “Awesome Etiquette” podcast, told HuffPost. “People feel that it’s less humble. ‘You’re welcome’ also gets a snarky rep from time to time.”  

Indeed, in 2015, The New York Times’ Amanda Hess asked “When Did ‘You’re Welcome’ Become a Gloat?” In it, Hess points to comedians’ uses of “you’re welcome,” like Stephen Colbert’s delivery of the phrase as his “blowhard alter ego” on “The Colbert Report” and Will Ferrell’s 2009 comedic Broadway play about President George W. Bush called “You’re Welcome America.” 

“You’re welcome” has continued to act as a sort of comic brag or sarcastic remark. Even more recently, the 2016 Disney movie “Moana” featured a rather pompous song called “You’re Welcome” ― sung by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s arrogant-but-lovable demigod character, Maui.

“We’re taught it’s good manners not to toot your own horn,” Diane Gottsman, founder of the Protocol School of Texas, told HuffPost. “People don’t want to appear as if they’re expecting praise. But in trying to be humble, what happens is that many of us have difficulty accepting gratitude or compliments. We tend to say things like, ‘Oh, no, it was nothing’ or ‘Oh, this old thing?’”

Those patient Millennials

Some good news about Millennials: as customers, they're surprisingly laid back and patient. But from my experience, as employees, not so much. They want promoted yesterday. From NYPost.com.

Millennials are an amazingly patient bunch

Millennials are the most patient generation of all, according to surprising new research. 

A study examining the customer service experiences and expectations of 2,000 people found millennials are prepared to wait the longest times before getting agitated and are less likely to complain when things go awry. 

The average 18- to 35-year-old was happy to wait 11 minutes on hold on the phone before their mood began to sour. That’s 38 percent longer than respondents over the age of 55, who wait just eight minutes before becoming flustered and upset. 

Patience is even harder to come by when on an empty stomach, but millennials can also wait longer for a meal before frustration sets in. In fact, they’ll wait 21 minutes longer than any other generation. 

The study of customer service expectations from Jive Communications found millennials are also the most likely to forgive and forget — with four in 10 (39 percent) willing to return to a business if they’ve experienced bad customer service there in the past. 

Just 23 percent of those over the age of 55 would do the same. 

Millennials are also more likely to tolerate mistakes. 

Only 2 percent of those over 55 say they would forgive a dirty hotel room compared to 15 percent of millennials.

Infographic Friday

Embedded from: Telepathy - User Experience (UX) & Web Design Blog

Good time for spring cleaning

Those zany Millennials

Now, picking on them in the United Kingdom, they're set to become the fattest generation. I still suspect we'll be fatter in America, at every generation. USA...USA...USA...From the BBC.

Millennials 'set to be fattest generation'

UK millennials are on track to be the most overweight generation since records began, health experts say. 

Based on population trends, more than seven in every 10 people born between the early 1980s and mid-90s will be too fat by the time they reach middle age. 

In comparison, about half of the "baby boomer" generation, born just after World War Two, were fat at that age. 

Being fat as an adult is linked to 13 different types of cancer, says Cancer Research UK, who did the analysis. 

The list includes breast, bowel and kidney cancer, but only 15% of people in the UK are aware of the link, according to the charity. 

'Generation fat?' 

Britain is the most obese nation in Western Europe, with rates rising faster than in any other developed nation. 

Obesity prevalence has been increasing in the UK, from 15% in 1993 to 27% in 2015.

Happy First Day of Spring!

Source:OurAmazingPlanet

Hope you enjoyed St. Patrick's Day

Created by Customer Magnetism.

Happy National Freedom of Information Day!

by Ghergich.

From Visually.

Just ahead of Flint, Michigan

Where there's still lead in the drinking water. Lead. Memphis is the 11th unhappiest city, and nearby Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC is 4th. On the flip side, Asheville,
Charlottesville, and Lynchburg rank among the happiest. From 247wallst.com.

The Happiest (and Most Miserable) Cities in America

11. Memphis, TN-MS-AR

• You like what you do every day: 72.5% agree
• Your friends and family give you positive energy every day: 75.5% agree
• You have enough money to do everything you want to do: 38.9% agree
• The area where you live is a perfect place for you: 50.4% agree
• In the last 7 days you’ve felt active and productive every day: 64.0% agree
• Median household income: $49,809
• Violent crime rate: 1,082.1 per 100,000 people

Tennessee Reconnect the latest

Vehicle on the Drive to 55. But alot of factors work against adults returning to college--not the least of which is the strong economy. The full report can be found at Beneath the Surface: The State of Higher Education in Tennessee, but the excerpts below are from Inside Higher Education.

Closing Gaps in Tennessee

“Tennessee has actually done a tremendous amount across policy areas,” said Scott Jenkins, strategy director at Lumina, adding that the state has built an ecosystem focused on access and providing college for traditional and nontraditional students. 

But the state also recognized another challenge, Jenkins said, adding that increasing the state’s college attainment rate can’t happen without increasing rates for low-income students and students of color. Lumina has set its own national college credential attainment goal of 60 percent by 2025. 

“And they’re not going to get there if they don’t connect with adults,” he said. 

More than a year ago, state officials realized they were about 870,000 degrees short of reaching the 2025 goal of 55 percent degree or certificate attainment. 

However, Krause said, the decreasing adult enrollment numbers aren’t too troubling a sign because of the state’s low unemployment rate. 

Typically, colleges enroll fewer adult students when the economy has improved and unemployment is low. According to October’s labor statistics, Tennessee had a 3 percent unemployment rate. 

The report “shows the challenge getting adults into higher education,” Krause said, adding that many adults may be employed in jobs that seem like a really great deal for them, even though it may not be “a durable job that will withstand the next economic downturn.” 

Even so, Krause said the problem of declining enrollment for adults could change once Tennessee Reconnect launches this fall. The initiative is an expansion of the Promise program and offers last-dollar tuition and fee-free access to qualified students at the state’s community colleges. Applications for the program will be available Feb. 15. 

Lovett, of Complete Tennessee, agreed and is hopeful Reconnect will reverse the state’s downward trend with adult student enrollment. 

“Traditionally, adult students do well once enrolled in college,” he said. “However, the feedback we received from our listening tour last year called attention to alarming realities of limited access and support resources for many adults in Tennessee.” 

Jenkins said it takes time, sometimes years, for adult students to go from the initial decision of wanting to return to college or to go for the first time to actually enrolling.

“Not all of our adult-serving institutions are adult friendly,” he said. “They may say that, but they’re only adult friendly as long as you show up in August.” 

For example, a truly adult-friendly institution might have up to 10 academic start dates for students instead of only two, Jenkins said. “With the economy in a strong position, we’ll have to have a really strong message to adults on why college can lead them to a better employment outcome.”

I'm not surprised Memphis is on this list

But Nashville? On the other hand, most big cities are. From MSN.com.

The Most Dangerous Vacation Places in the U.S.

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 

The violent crime rate has increased from 3,596 to 3,754. Overall this is not a huge difference, but this is not the case if you break it down by categories. Murders are up from 34 to 54 and car thefts are up from 725 to 1,306. Nashville also made the list of the worst cities for mosquitoes in the U.S.

Today is National Napping Day! The day after daylight savings time!

From Visually.

Happy National Barbie Day!

From Visually.

Those zany Millennials

Not only are they not buying homes, shopping in stores, or going on vacations, now they doubt democracy? From NBC News.

Is democracy essential? Millennials increasingly aren't sure — and that should concern us all.

According to a study published in October 2017 by Pew Research, there’s a division of opinion in many countries today on whether states are more effectively governed by “experts” or elected officials. In advanced economies, young adults are more likely than older people to prefer technocracy to democracy. The study found that in the U.S., 46 percent of those aged 18 to 29 would prefer to be governed by experts compared with 36 percent of respondents aged 50 and older. 

A study from Harvard’s Yascha Mounk and the University of Melbourne’s Roberto Stefan Foa published in the Journal of Democracy in January 2017 produced an even more striking result. Just 19 percent of U.S. millennials agreed with the statement that “military takeover is not legitimate in a democracy.” Among older citizens, the total was a still-surprising 43 percent. (In Europe, by contrast, the corresponding numbers were 36 percent for younger people and 53 percent for older people.) Perhaps most alarming was the revelation than one quarter of millennials agreed that “choosing leaders through free elections is unimportant.” Just 14 percent of Baby Boomers and 10 percent of older Americans agreed.

Hard times in my old Kentucky home

WKU cutting 140 jobs. Morehead State buying out 25 employees. UK facing big cuts. From Kentucky.com. There is a bit of good news for continuing education at Western Kentucky, though.

Western Kentucky University to cut 140 jobs, eliminate programs to deal with deficit

The university’s three regional campuses in Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, Glasgow and Owensboro will now operate under the Division of Extended Learning and Outreach. Caboni said the move will ensure a “more market-driven focus and student service orientation.” He said cost savings will come from efficiencies and from removing duplication that exists under the current structure.

Those zany Millennials

Now they're not buying groceries. From The Takeout.

Millennials are cooking at home less because they’re too busy ruining everything

They threaten our Costco and Applebee’s, they’ve never had to watch advertising, and they spend all their excess cash on avocado toast! Is nothing sacred to this scruffy young generation that’s scattered all over our lawn? It’s no wonder that the millennials keep getting called out by marketing firms for gumming up the works with their eating and shopping habits that deviate from their Gen X and Boomer predecessors. 

According to an article in New Hope Network, a sister publication to Supermarket News, a new study from the USDA’s Economic Research Service states unequivocally that “The clear, overarching trend with millennials is that spending on groceries is down, and spending on food outside the home is up.” Even with the groceries they do buy, twentysomethings tend to focus on sweets and processed food (things that don’t take much effort to prepare) over white and red meat and grains. Overall, “Convenience is the clear takeaway: 62 percent of millennials reported purchasing prepared deli food, carry-out, delivery, or fast food within the last seven days, while only 47 percent of traditionalists and 56 percent of Gen X-ers did so.”

A rather unscientific ranking

Of all fifty states. Still, it's nice to see Tennessee listed in the top fifteen. One has to wonder how Michigan is number one, though, and Florida last at fifty. I think this might be a Millennial list! From Thrillist.

THE DEFINITIVE AND FINAL RANKING OF ALL 50 STATES

14. Tennessee 

In no particular order, things Tennessee gets right include: hot chicken, the Stax Museum, sneakily passionate hockey fanbases, ribs, Beale Street, state songs, dressing weirdly nice for college football games, and theme parks dedicated to busty country musicians.

Dr. Seuss's birthday!

by nicholemagoon.

From Visually.

Happy National Peanut Butter Lover's Day!

From Visually.