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13 everyday idioms that make zero sense until you know where they come from

Sweating like a pig? Pigs don't sweat!

cake, sleeping baby, horse, idioms, language
Images via Unsplash

Images of idioms.

I've always really liked cliches, idioms, proverbs, and common phrases we like to use over and over. They can get repetitive at times, but they're crucial tools in communication. They allow us to convey so much meaning in so few words—a commonly understood shorthand that can get complex points across quickly.

The only problem is that many of the most popular idioms in common use date back hundreds of years. In that time, they've either become outdated or seen their words adopt new meanings. In some cases the idioms have been shortened or reversed, losing important context. So when someone tells you to "bite the bullet," you may inherently know what they mean—but if you really stop and think about it, you have no idea why it means what it means.

If you're a word nerd like me, you'll be absolutely fascinated by the origin and evolution of some of these common idioms, and how they came to mean what they mean today.

1. Sick as a dog / Working like a dog

 

 gif, dog, working, idioms, funny, sick Dog hard at work Giphy  

 

Ever have a cold and tell someone you're "sicker than a dog?" Kind of rude to dogs, in my opinion, and a little strange. I've had dogs my whole life and can't remember any of them coming down with the flu.

Sick as a dog actually originates hundreds of years ago, if not longer. Some explanations say that in the 1700s, stray dogs were responsible for the spread of many diseases, along with rats and other gutter critters. There are also references as far back as the Bible to dogs eating their own vomit—sounds pretty sick to me.

What about working like a dog? Dogs are the laziest creatures around! For this one you have to remember that dogs as "pleasure pets" is a relatively recent phenomenon. Before that they had to earn their keep by working tirelessly on the farm to herd and protect the animals.

2. Sweating like a pig

 pigs, sweat, sweating like a pig, idioms, origins Close up of pigs.Image via Canva

This is an extremely common idiom that we all use and accept. There's just one problem with it: Pigs don't sweat!

So...what gives? You might be surprised to hear that 'sweating like a pig' actually has nothing to do with farm animals.

According to McGill University: "The term is actually derived from the iron smelting process in which hot iron poured on sand cools and solidifies with the pieces resembling a sow and piglets. Hence 'pig iron.' As the iron cools, the surrounding air reaches its dew point, and beads of moisture form on the surface of the 'pigs.' Thus, 'sweating like a pig' indicates that the 'pig' (i.e. iron) has cooled enough to be safely handled. And that's a 'pig' you wouldn't want to eat."

3. Bite the bullet

 idioms, bite the bullet, bullets, guns, ammunition A person holds a plate of bullets.Image via Canva 

Biting the bullet refers to sucking it up and doing something hard, something you don't want to do but is necessary, and accepting the difficult consequences and/or pain that comes with it. But what does that have to do with biting a bullet?

There are different theories on this. One common explanation is that in the olden days it was common for soldiers on the battlefield receiving surgery to bite down on a lead bullet. You've probably seen people in movies biting down on a piece of wood or leather strap. Since lead is a softer metal, it would give just a little bit between their teeth and not damage them. So the idiom 'biting the bullet' means, "Okay, this is going to suck, just bite down and get through it."

4. Healthy as a horse

 idioms, horses, healthy as a horse, animals, sayings A horse making a funny face. Image via Canva  

 

This one has always confused me. As a layman, it seems like horses are prone to injury and have trouble recovering when they hurt themselves. More research shows that horses can not vomit, which means they are highly at risk for deadly colic episodes. Doesn't sound super healthy!

The best explanation I can find for healthy as a horse is that, again, in the olden days, horses were symbols of health and strength and vitality. Which checks out—they're really powerful, majestic creatures.

5. Slept like a baby

 idioms, slept like a baby, babies, kids, children, sayings A baby with glasses sleeping on a moon pillow.Image via Canva 

To many parents, this common idiom is rage-inducing. If babies sleep so well, why am I so exhausted all the time?!

Yes, babies are notorious for waking up every few hours or at the first sign of hunger or a dirty diaper. It puts their parents through the wringer (another strange idiom!). But to the outside observer, a sleeping baby is pure bliss. They are so innocent and blissfully unaware of anything going on around them—after all, if they're not sitting in a dirty diaper they really don't have too many other things to worry about. Also, despite all their shenanigans, babies do sleep a lot—around 17 hours a day or so. When you put it that way, the idiom starts to make a little sense.

6. Happy as a clam

 idioms, clams, happy as a clam, seafood, sayings Ocean Seafood GIF by Lorraine Nam Giphy  

Clams are a lot of things. Some people find them delicious, others disgusting. One thing I think we can all agree on is that clams don't seem particularly happy, which makes this idiom a bit of a conundrum.

The truth is that this phrase is actually derived from the full version: "Happy as a clam at high water."

At low water, or low tide, clams are exposed to predators. At high tide, they're safe in deeper water. That's about as happy as mollusk can get!

7. The proof is in the pudding

 pudding, idioms, proof, sayings, origins Chocolate pudding.Image via Canva.

Hey, we all love pudding. But what the heck does this mean? If you're not familiar, it refers to judging something based on the results it generates—but what that has to do with pudding is a bit of a mystery to most people.

This is another example of a shortened idiom that makes more sense when you read the full, original line: "The proof of the pudding is in the eating."

According to Dictionary.com it "originated as a reference to the fact that it was difficult to judge if the pudding was properly cooked until it was actually being eaten. In other words, the test of whether it’s done is taking a bite."

8. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth

 horse, smiling, gift horse, origin, idiom Smiling horse. Giphy  

I've always been a big fan of this idiom, which basically means that it's rude to over-analyze or criticize something you got for free, especially when it was a nice gesture from a friend or loved one.

But here we go with horses again! This phrase likely originated from the fact that you can determine a horse's age and health by looking at its teeth. So if someone were to give you a horse as a gift, it would be rude to immediately try to see how "good" it was by looking in its mouth.

9. Clean as a whistle

 idioms, clean as a whistle, kids, sayings, whistles A young boy blows a whistle. Image via Canva  

Whistles are objectively disgusting. They collect spit and germs every time they're used. I certainly wouldn't hold them up as a beacon of cleanliness.

So what gives with this idiom? There are several possible explanations that have been proposed.

First, a whistle won't work, or won't work very well, if it has debris blocking up its inside. So you can think of "clean" in this case as being "empty or free of clutter." Another possibility is that, in this idiom, clean refers to sharpness—as in the sharp sound a whistle makes—and that inference has been lost over time.

10. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps

 idioms, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, sayings, values Two women laugh looking at a laptop screen Image via Canva  

This phrase is commonly used to describe someone who was "self-made" and built themselves up into a success from nothing. Imagine lying on the floor and hoisting yourself to your feet using only the straps on your boots.

The only problem is...that's impossible! And that's exactly the point. This idiom is actually meant to be sarcastic and to imply that "socioeconomic advancement...was an impossible accomplishment," according to Useless Etymology.

11. Have your cake and eat it too

 cartoon, cake, slice, chocolate cake, idioms, origin Slice of cake. Giphy  

Why bother having a cake if you can't eat it? That's the mystery of this extremely common idiom or proverb (sometimes worded "you can't have your cake and eat it, too")

The explanation is actually really simple. "Have" in this case really means "keep" or "hold onto." So, in that case, it makes perfect sense that you can't eat your cake and also still have it. "You can't have it both ways," would be another way of saying it. This saying likely began in a letter from Thomas, Duke of Norfolk to Thomas Cromwell in 1538. Thomas wrote,

"A man can not have his cake and eat his cake."

The quote appeared again in 1546 in A Dialogue Conteinyng the Nomber in Effect of All the Prouerbes in the Englishe Tongue, a book of proverbs by John Heywood:

"Wolde you bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?"

12. Head over heels

 tears for fears, head over heels, sayings, idioms tears for fears 80s GIF  Giphy  

Very rarely do people describe being deeply in love without using this phrase. But it's a confusing one, because isn't your head always over your heels? That doesn't seem to be an extraordinary state of being.

The idiom here has actually been flipped over time for unknown reasons. According to Dictionary.com, the saying originally went "heels over head," implying upside down. The saying originated in the 1300s, took its "present form" in the 1700s, and took its present meaning in the 1800s.

13. Pushing the envelope

 idioms, pushing the envelope, exercise, gyms, workouts, sayings Two women at a gym push an oversized envelope. Images via Canva  

When I think of radical, risky, or pushing the limits of what's possible, sliding an envelope across a table just somehow doesn't quite capture it for me. But an envelope doesn't have to be just a paper container that you put other paper in. It can actually refer to different parts and practices of an aircraft.

"Push the envelope comes from aeronautics, where it refers to a set of performance limits that may not be safely exceeded," according to Merriam Webster. Now that's more like it!

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Immigrant couples find joy with new Thanksgiving tradition

This Chinatown shop is holding space for tradition in a changing city

Photo: Jessica Shuran Yu for Documented.
David Huang, 23, and Ana Delgado, 24, are one of three couples at The One Wedding Plaza on Thanksgiving Day.
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On Thanksgiving Day, when most Americans gather with family to reflect on and celebrate their blessings, a different kind of holiday tradition has flourished among immigrant families in recent decades: Weddings.

Both of our families are immigrants,” said Ana Delgado, whose family emigrated from Costa Rica to New York City. She and her husband, David Huang, whose family settled in Tennessee after leaving China, were married at The One Wedding Plaza on Thanksgiving Day in 2024. “We’re not super attached to the Thanksgiving [holiday],” she explained.

Thanksgiving Day weddings are especially popular among Chinese immigrants like the Huang family. Because many Chinese families in New York work in the retail, construction, or garment industries, the holiday provides a rare day off work where families and friends are available to gather. Boutiques like The One Wedding Plaza have stepped up to meet the demand, providing a one-stop shop for families looking to host a celebration. More than simply a wedding venue, boutiques like The One Wedding Plaza offer entertainment, catering arrangements, gown rentals, makeup services, and other wedding necessities.

Same Tradition, Shifting Cultures

Thanksgiving Day weddings continue to grow in popularity, but in New York City, the tradition looks different than it did pre-pandemic. Before COVID, boutiques and banquet halls in Chinatown bustled with customers, providing full wedding services for Chinese families. Now, however, much of the Chinese population in Chinatown has moved into neighboring areas like Flushing and Sunset Park, taking businesses with them. At the same time, according to reporting from Documented, an independent, non-profit newsroom dedicated to reporting with and for immigrant communities in New York City, more than one-fifth of storefronts in Chinatown have been forced to close. The result is that The One Wedding Plaza is now the last surviving full-scale wedding boutique in Chinatown—and the last remaining touchstone of the Thanksgiving Day wedding tradition for Chinatown-area families.

“This street used to be so lively,” said Jessica Liang, who works as the general manager of The One Wedding Plaza, which is located on East Broadway. At one point, she recalled, businesses along her street would be bustling with customers well into the night. Now, during the night, they’re mostly empty.

Wedding dresses at The One Wedding Plaza in Manhattan Chinatown.

Jessica Shuran Yu for Documented.

But Liang refuses to close shop. Although her locations in Flushing and Brooklyn are doing better than the Chinatown location, Liang is determined to keep the Chinatown location open to help couples like Huang and Delgado carry on meaningful family traditions and create new memories.

Blending Makeup, Blending Traditions

While the economy and the population have shifted in recent years, Thanksgiving Day Weddings are as meaningful as ever. Huang and Delgado, in fact, were so dedicated to the idea that they flew their families to New York from Tennessee in order to celebrate, as there were no banquet halls in Tennessee suitable for a Chinese wedding. The high school sweethearts were one of three couples who married at The One Wedding Plaza on Thanksgiving 2024, their celebration—a joyful mix of Mandarin, English, and Spanish cultures. Liang, in addition to acting as the Plaza’s general manager, also offered services as a makeup artist for Delgado and her bridesmaids on the big day.

Like many immigrant families, Huang and Delgado weren’t just celebrating a wedding—they were paying tribute to their respective cultures, embracing new traditions, and honoring the immigrant experience. The One Wedding Plaza made that possible not only by providing makeup services and the venue, but holding space for a celebration of heritage and community. It’s for exactly this reason that Liang is committed to keeping The One Wedding Plaza open for immigrant families in Chinatown for years to come.

--

This article, written by Jessica Shuran Yu, originally appeared on Documented, an independent, non-profit newsroom dedicated to reporting with and for immigrant communities in New York City. Documented’s community-driven approach to journalism and information impacts the everyday experiences of immigrants—including providing original reporting and resource guides in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Haitian Creole. Sign up for Early Arrival, Documented’s newsletter, for immigration news—docu.nyc/earlyarrival.


This article is part of Upworthy’s “The Threads Between U.S.” series that highlights what we have in common thanks to the generous support from the Levi Strauss Foundation, whose grantmaking is committed to creating a culture of belonging.

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85-year-old woman in senior home brings down the house with Fleetwood Mac 'Landslide' cover

There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Cecily Knobler

A woman sings "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac at karaoke.

On a hot Sunday in July, Carole Wade took the mic at a Dallas senior living facility where my mom lives. I happened to be visiting for the karaoke event, and the list of residents who couldn't wait to put their stamps on their favorite tunes was so long, the event had to be extended. ABBA's "Mamma Mia," David Lee Roth's "Just a Gigolo"—you name it, they sang it.

When it was Wade's turn, the microphone was brought to her table. She took it in her hands as though it was an extension of her fingers as the music cued up. Then, as she began to effortlessly sing "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac, the room got still. Frozen. All eyes were on her, and most of those eyes were wet. The lyrics, so beautifully fitting:

"Well, I've been afraid of changin'
'Cause I've built my life around you.
But time makes you bolder,
Even children get older,
I'm getting old too."

A man sitting at our table took notice of how emotional I had become. He leaned over to say, "Never stop feeling the music."

I had the honor of chatting with Wade, who at 85, has been singing nearly her whole life. She got started in the business as a backup singer in Elvis impersonator groups in Dallas and surrounding areas. In and out of bands, playing Deep Ellum clubs and local hotels, she shares, "I've been singing since I was a small child. I've loved music all my life."

As luck would have it, she was at a jam session when she started harmonizing with other musicians. They would soon form her most recent band, Psychedelic Oatmeal. They officially stopped playing gigs when she was in her 70s, but they remain close. (She notes her bandmates were all much younger.)

 bands, carole wade, music, old friends, singer Carole and her band mates.Carole Wade

They covered classic rock tunes from Stevie Nicks, The Eagles, Janis Joplin, and Led Zeppelin. Songs like "Me and Bobby McGee," "Seven Bridges Road," and "Whole Lotta Love." She laughs that most of the men in the band couldn't hit those Zeppelin high notes made famous by Robert Plant, so she took on the challenge—with great success.

They even branded themselves at gigs, making little Ziploc bags of oatmeal and glitter, which they would throw to the audience at shows. That is, until a club owner asked them to stop, as the oatmeal was mixing with spilled drinks, "creating goo."

Rare footage of Psychedelics Oatmeal.

  The band Psychedelic Oatmeal plays in Dallas.  www.youtube.com  

Wade makes clear that music is her therapy. "If you're down on a certain day, it will bring you up." She has lived a full life, with two grown sons who are both excelling in life. But music, and the friends with whom she makes it, brings her that extra piece of joy and purpose.

Michael Hatcher, the Resident Services Director at The Reserve at North Dallas (the senior facility in which this event was held), has seen firsthand how music soothes seniors. It reconnects them to their purest selves, no matter how hazy their memories might become. Hatcher shares, "They remember the music, and the time. It's a vessel for anyone of age. It can be used to bring someone out of the deepest sun-downing and back to life."

A man sings "Just a Gigolo" at The Reserve karaoke day.

@cdk213

Senior living karaoke! Fabulous! #seniorlivingcommunity #justagigalo #dallas

There is much research to support this. Bannerhealth.com quotes music therapy coordinator Tammy Reiver for Banner Hospice in Phoenix: "Music holds the power to increase dopamine levels (happy hormones), decrease symptoms of depression and pain, and improve a person’s quality of life. Pleasing music plays an important role at every age, but for aging adults, the benefits are even greater.”

As for Wade? She jokes that she and a few other musicians at the senior home have plans to start their own band. She certainly has the chops for it—and the fans.

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Frugal people say these under $50 upgrades saved them more money than expected

These 35 small investments really paid off.

Image via Canva

Frugal people share the best $50 or less investments that have saved them exponentially more.

Sometimes you have to spend money to save money, and people who live a budget-conscious, frugal lifestyle have perfectly mastered how to do it.

In a Reddit post, member jul_on_ice posed the question: "What’s one small upgrade (under $50) that saved you more money than you expected?"

They continued, "Talking about small wins that compounded over time over one thing that made a drastic difference. Frugality is often about not spending but sometimes investments can pay off. Maybe something that made work easier. Made life better. Made you more comfortable. Or something bought once that replaced lots of things you once had to spend on."

Fellow frugal people had lots of money saving hacks to share. These are 35 things that frugal people spent less than $50 on that have saved them lots of money.

"Vacuum sealer. I’m single and most shopping/recipes are four or five meals for me. Often I would have food waste because I no longer wanted the food after the third meal. Now I cook, have the leftovers I want, and vacuum seal the rest in portions. Keeps the food fresh and saves room in my freezer." —mercfan3

"Don’t rent the modem/router combo from Comcast. Just buy your own." —Dove_of_Doves

"A couple of incredibly mundane purchases that I should have made years earlier: having extra sets of measuring spoons (~ $3 per set) makes cooking so much easier; a digital cooking thermometer (~ $15); and a tire inflator that plugs into the car's cigarette lighter ($35) so I can top up the tires at home, rather than trying to find a place with a working air hose. ETA: A french press ($20) and electric kettle ($25). Have used the same french press for more than a decade, and get better tasting coffee without buying filters or K-cups. An electric kettle is surprisingly useful." —Taggart3629

"$9 3-cup rice cooker." —CeleronHubbard

"Popsicle molds. I live in the desert and we eat so many popsicles. Making them myself has saved money and they’re healthier." —Adventurous-Fig-5179

"Dropped cable, kept internet only. Pay for separate Netflix and Disney and all total we save $35 a month over the cable bundle. We did not watch 90% of the channels included. Definite win for us." —GarudaMamie

"Adding an over-the-air antenna. Is a great addition to cutting that “cable tv” cord. It is much easier than you think." —williamtrose367

"We got a renter friendly bidet and it has saved us SO MUCH in toilet paper usage." —Specific_Wait_8006

"We went with cloth diapers when the kids were little it saved us a bunch and kept a bunch of garbage out of the landfill. Once they were potty trained we were able to sell a lot of them." —Responsible-Charge27

"Maybe not a quantifiable dollar amount of a change, but I switched my mindset from “Unitaskers are bad” to “Unitaskers are acceptable if they do the 1 thing better than anything else”. Example: Those plastic pulled pork meat claw things are not better than a fork for the task of shredding meat, but a good mandolin slicer is much faster and probably safer overall than a knife, and rice cookers can cook rice exceptionally well, even if that’s all they do." —Ryutso

"Needles and threads. You can fix anything material with small rips or tears. I’ve extended the life of clothes, bags, and kids stuffed animals by years." —baldbutthairy

"I know this sounds crazy, but realizing I could buy more than one of something (e.g. bath mats, reading glasses, chargers, etc.) I had to really work on changing my thinking around this due to past financial challenges." SomeTangerine1184

"Second hand slow cooker. Money saving meals made from cheap tinned foods: daal, chilli, casserole, soups." —Ambitious_Ad1844

"Anything like this is usually an inexpensive household repair that I waited too long to do. Replacing loose door handles, fixing a leaky faucet, repairing the drip line from my A/C. Little cheap things that just made my life... better." —gogomom

"My aeropress has been a ridiculously good investment. It’s much more portable than a french press. I have it with me now while I’m travelling and I can access a good cup of coffee using the hotel kettle." —mrjasong

"I am a freezie human and nowhere is that more apparent than on airplanes. So I had this 'warm fuzzy' vest for wearing on the plane with a tougher outer fabric and a soft fleecy inner. I paid a seamstress to add an invisible zipper to one of the seams on the inside of the vest and now the gap in between the fleece inner fabric and the tougher outer fabric is what in the 1920s would be called a 'passthrough pocket' or modern hunters might call it a 'game pocket'. But you know what else? It's now my personal item and I wear it on the plane, Scott-e-Vest style, but cheaper. And now because of that, I can fly more budget airlines because I have less luggage-as-in-bags." —heinfamousj

"The jury is still out, but I recently made the switch to rechargeable AA batteries. I'm optimistic this will save me money as I use AAs in my camera flashes and go through a lot of them. It's not a purchase, but rather a process that I think is going to help a lot. I put everything on my 2% cash back credit card and pay it off at the end of the month. Recently, to get a better handle on my daily spending, I decided on what my monthly credit card bill goal should be. Divide that number by 30 and I get my daily spending goal. I then created a spreadsheet and track how much I spend each day and have a column with a running total for over/under. It's motivating to look and see 'Hey, I'm $XXX under budget so far for the month.' The daily goal is high enough to account for things like gas in my truck, haircuts and groceries." —No_Blueberry_8454

"Yearly paper planner. No more missed rendez-vous or deadlines, no more late fees. I tried going digital, but it doesn't work for my ADHD brain. I just snooze the reminders and forget about it. Until it's too late. So I went back to paper, and it's worth the $12-ish per year to me." —Duck__Holliday

"Bought a dead battery Dyson vacuum on Facebook market. Did the Ryobi battery upgrade. Got cheap 8ah Ryobi battery off ebay. Got a cheap Ryobi battery Charger off facebook market. Total all was about $50-60 and it works great." —antsam9

"Dying my hair at my hairdresser rather than at home. No more stains from the home dye. No wrecked towels, clothing or hair." —JoyCrazy

"If you drink a lot of soda or sparkling water, a Soda Stream can help you save. Just the CO2 canisters comes out to about $0.11 for 12 ounces vs paying about $0.50 per can of store bought soda. What gets you are the syrups… that can bring the price up to $0.40 ish per 12 ounces. So to be extra frugal, you could make your own fruit syrups and skip the store-bought stuff. Make a simple syrup (one part sugar, one part water; boil on the stove) and add lemon or lime or orange juice or whatever… I’m sure there are recipes all over the internet. And boom, homemade La Croix. It’s an investment to start, but saves over time." —Drooly_Cat_1103

"Somewhat location dependent but if you are in a dry climate like me and rely on humidifiers running 24/7, buy a cheap water distiller on Amazon (I think mine was like $60 but close enough, you might even find one under 50 if you look/wait for a sale). Distilled water gets pricey, but not using distilled water will junk up your humidifier with minerals which is both a bitch to clean and can eventually cause problems with the function. Save yourself the trouble. Also useful for steam cleaners, mixing your own cleaning sprays from concentrates, misting bottles, etc. At least if you have hard water, anything where you are repeatedly putting a lot through a very small line, distilled is preferred to prevent mineral buildup." —ilanallama85

"I got a Walmart+ membership (got it for $49, it renews at half off the $99 at anniversary). I get free shipping, so when I need something small (like shampoo), I don't need to run to the store. I've used Walmart+ so much more than I ever used Amazon Prime. It costs less, and I find I buy less random crap with Walmart+ than Prime." —sbinjax

"Three inexpensive manual coffee makers: Bialetti Moka Express pot, Bodum French Press, and V60 pour over. Bought all 3, virtually new, at the thrift shop for under 20 total about 5 years ago. The Bialetti makes an espresso-like cup, the Bodum is rich and strong, and the V60 makes a softer, smoother cup of coffee." —zeitness

"Not sure this will ever meaningfully 'pay out' on the investment, but a timer switch for the bathroom fan. I have ADHD and benefit from as many "set it and forget it" items as I can possibly get. Now I can set the fan, have a shower, walk away, and it'll turn itself off after a decent airing-out, and I don't end up walking by the bathroom 4 hours later like 'how long has the fan been on??' Less electricity used, less wear and tear on the fan, less conditioned air lost. Is it more savings than the amount I spent? Probably not for a long time. But it feels better!" —Kitchen-Owl-7323

"A shutoff valve to go above the shower heads in my kids’ bathroom’s so I can limit the flow. We have high water pressure and my kids universally put the faucets at max flow. I used the valves to cut the flow in half. The water pressure is still great but now they use half the water and the hot water now lasts through all six of our showers. I haven’t calculated the savings but I know we are using much less energy in water heating and much less water." —nottherealme1220

"A $30.00 pair of very high quality sharp scissors bought at a sewing machine store 20 years ago freed me forever from paying for haircuts. One YouTube video showed me how to trim & maintain - done. My brother bought a clipper set for $20.00 at the same time and does his own cuts. All that money gets plunked into savings!" —VulcanGreeting

"i switched from some fancy expensive work boots id been wearing to some 18 dollar shoes with 10 dollar insoles i got at walmart. i added the extra insoles on top of the existing ones for extra comfort. this saved me however how much i would have spent for my foot pain that was nearing bad enough to warrant medical attention. these are seriously the most comfortable shoes i have ever owned, i even wear them outside of work, on hikes, just going out on a wet day. over a year in and the extra insoles might need replaced in a few months but the shoes and their original insoles (the ones on bottom) are holding up perfectly. I'm in a better mood at work now too." —cccameronnn

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Someone called the police on a 'homeless man with a baby.' Turns out he's just a very tired dad.

The father of four is using it as a teachable moment.

Photo credit: Canva

Police called after dad is mistaken for a homeless man.

When you're in the throes of parenting a newborn, there's not much room for glamour. You spend your days exhausted and looking like a haphazardly thrown together preschool art project because your nights are filled with feedings and diaper changes. Being able to take a shower feels like a spa day, especially if you have other small children who need your attention. A California dad of four knows this dance of exhaustion all too well, but he never expected that looking like a tired parent would result in having the police called on him.

That's right, someone called the police on him for looking as if he rolled out of bed and grabbed the closet clothes he could find. Chapman Hamborg was taking his newborn for a walk when one of his neighbors called the police on him reporting that he was a homeless man that had stolen a baby. The dad recorded the unbelievable interaction with the police who thought they had a kidnapping situation on their hands only to find out it was all a misunderstanding.

Hamborg uploaded the video to his social media platform where it has been viewed over 50 million times. In the video, you see the exhausted dad trying to laugh off the situation as he explains to his wife, "Someone called the cops on me thinking that I was homeless with a baby, so the cop needs to see my ID." His wife, who can be heard in the background, is in disbelief.

The caption of the video explains what happened in greater detail, reading, "I take our newborn daughter for walks around our neighborhood while wearing her in the baby carrier multiple times a day. I am surprised all of my neighbors haven’t seen me and recognize me by now. Well this lady thought I was homeless and had a (stollen?!) baby and she was concerned enough to call the police, and get in her car and follow me home. Apparently I need to work on my appearance—I guess being an artist or a tired dad isn’t a valid excuse."

Since it was clearly a mistake, the police seem to apologize and leave Hamborg to continue caring for his newborn. People who viewed his video could relate to his exhausted look while others were confused on how the woman followed him to his home but still thought he was homeless.

"Honestly we all look homeless with a newborn, it’s called exhaustion." one person writes.

"She clearly doesn’t understand homelessness if she followed you home," another says.

"Since when is being homeless with a baby a crime? Homeless people have children," someone else points out.

 homelessness; homeless; dad; homeless dad; neighbor calls police; parenting; new parents Home Equality GIF by INTO ACTION  Giphy  

Instead of getting upset or letting the incident go as an innocent mistake, the artist is using it as a teachable moment for others. The art studio owner already had a picture he painted of him wearing one of his other children when they were an infant. That sparked the idea to use the painting titled Unseen Path to help the homeless.

Hamborg contacted the United Way of Orange County and is working with them to sell prints of his painting with 20 percent of the proceeds going to helping the homeless. They both hope to address the misconception of who experiences homelessness. The United Way pointed out to NBCLA that 371 families contacted them due to either already experiencing homelessness or being imminently at risk of being homeless. The dad wants to teach his children how to be compassionate towards homeless people and one day hopes to meet the neighbor who called the police to thank her for being vigilant.

This article originally appeared in June.

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Man uses 'Death of Las Vegas' trend to explain why Americans are done being exploited

What's happening to Las Vegas is a metaphor for how people are feeling about the economy.

via Canva/Photos

The Las Vegas strip.

The "Vegas is Dead" trend on social media has TikTokers sharing videos of an empty Strip and casinos, speculating about where all the tourists have gone. The online speculation is supported by numerous reports indicating that tourism to Sin City is down in 2025. A June report found that overall visitor numbers are down six percent for the first half of the year, with international visitor arrivals falling by over 13 percent in June compared to the same period in the previous year.

There has also been a sharp decline in Canadian visitors due to the White House’s push to make the country America’s 51st state. However, there’s also considerable speculation that Vegas has become too expensive for the average American, and even if they can afford the inflated prices, the price hikes make it a less enjoyable experience. Vegas was once a place where people went to get free drinks in casinos, cheap rooms during the week, and inexpensive buffets to entice them to gamble the rest of their money. These days, critics say the casinos want to price gouge and get you to gamble as well.

 


How expensive is Las Vegas?

Hotels have been removing coffee makers, forcing visitors to buy eight dollar coffees in the casino. A visitor recently shared that she had been charged $26 for a bottle of Fiji water from the minibar in her room at the Aria Resort & Casino. A British magician was charged $74.41 for two drinks at the Sphere, and some hotels charge $50 just to use the mini-fridge.

"On the Strip, people get taken for a ride. Once they get here, they're like, 'I'm tired of being treated like this. I'm tired of having to pay these ridiculous prices,’” Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor website, told The Independent. "There are fees all over the place—fees to park, resort fees on top of room rates. And people are getting fed up with it. We hear that a lot from our customers."

“Vegas is not fun anymore,” Amrita Bhasin, a retail-industry entrepreneur, told MarketWatch.


Why are people turned off by Las Vegas?

TikToker Nathan Ramos-Park recently shared his thoughts on why Vegas is struggling, and he views it as part of a broader trend across America. Ramos-Park is a film and TV writer behind Five Blind Dates, Ero, and Picture This. He says that the city’s prices are so high that they feel exploitative to most people, so Vegas no longer provides the “escapism” it once did.

@nathanramospark

Las Vegas no longer lets people feel escapism. It exploits so hard that people can’t afford to feel any joy which makes them in turn abandon their vices. It’s too expensive to gamble or eat or even park. There’s no coffee makers in the rooms there’s no microwave. There’s no way for people to experience joy modestly. In a way it mocks people. This will be the continuing downfall of Vegas and is a reflection of a broken system where people are exploited too hard. #lasvegas #edc #rio #caesarspalace #bellagio #fountain #fattuesday #thestrip #downtown #losangeles #escapism #exploitation #capitalism #microwave #dinner #coffee #downfall

Ramos-Park recalls going to Vegas in his 20s and getting a 5-star hotel for $20, free bottle service, and, for $100 between three people, they were able to have a “catharsis where we can eat as much as we want, drink as much as we want and it just doesn't exist anymore in Vegas.”

“Everything is just so prohibitively expensive, like buffets are over 80 bucks, even just a park on the strip was $20 for an hour,” he said before arguing that it just feels like “exploitation." Ramos-Park says it’s unnecessary because during uncertain economic times, people want to “escape” and if Vegas lowered its prices, “people would come and fall into the same traps of gambling and losing their money, but they would be happy to do so.”

@bshel74

What is going on here in Vegas? Never seen it so slow. Every casino and restaurant are pretty empty. #Vegas

He adds that his price-gouging leads people to resent corporatism, and it’s not just happening in Vegas, but also in big cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, and Seattle.

“It ends up hurting everybody. Ends up hurting the business. Ends up hurting the people. That ends up hurting the community, and so I think we're gonna see a lot of counter programming start to pop up, in the next three to five years, against these big kind of corporate locations," he said.

"This is also why I don’t get how there are any Disney adults left. How can you experience escapism when you’re being charged $25 for a lollipop," one commenter wrote. "I noticed the coffee machines being removed from rooms several years ago and it was then I knew we were never going back to the good days," another added.

Whether it’s a surprise resort fee in Vegas, $17 beers at a baseball game, a $45 service charge for Taylor Swift tickets, or a $100 fee to check a bag, people are fed up with being nickel-and-dimed by corporations, and sooner or later, there’s going to be pushback. Hopefully, this downward trend in visitors to Vegas is the wake-up call the town needs to make things reasonably priced again so people will return. Remember, casinos, you can always get ‘em back at the roulette wheel, but you don’t stand a chance if they aren't willing to show up in the first place.

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Voice actor explores the 100 year journey of women using baby voices in movies and TV

Come for the incredible voice acting. Stay for the awesome history lesson.

@tawnyplatis/Instagram

Tawny Platis gives an incredible vocal performance and even more incredible history lesson.

It’s always fun to watch talented voice actors do their thing, but it's even better if it makes you think in the process. Tawny Platis is certainly a voiceover artist who can deliver both. Just a few seconds of scrolling through her Instagram, and you’ll find all sorts of videos that are delicious for both your ears and your brain—from explaining how to use your voice to be taken seriously to breaking down how AI voices really work, and more.

But one of Platis’ most recent videos, where she takes you on a 100-year journey through the evolution of women using “baby voice,” really takes both entertaining and educational aspects up a notch.

“This is a quick funny little recap of something that has a huge complicated history,” Platis writes in her video’s caption before effortlessly flitting from ultra recognizable character voices which might seem superficial, but have “been a strategic part of women’s culture forever.”

For the 1920s–1940s era, Platis dawned a high-pitched, sing-song, Betty Boop-esque flapper style voice she dubbed the “Cartoon Coquette,” which she noted was “created to rebel against serious Victorian womanhood” and which allowed women to express themselves in a flirtatious way without seeming too threatening or loose.

 voice, voiceover, voiceover actor, voiceover actress, history, tawny platis, women's history Boop-boop-be-dupe the patriarchy.  media4.giphy.com  

Moving onto the 1950s–70s, we have Marilyn Monroe’s signature “Breathy Baby” voice, which was used to “mask a childhood stutter” and subsequently became "branding genius” and, similarly, became a way of appearing “non threatening” to the other sex who might feel “emasculated by a woman’s independence."

 voice, voiceover, voiceover actor, voiceover actress, history, tawny platis, women's history She was the master of "strategic infantilization." media4.giphy.com  

Then you have the “Valley Girl” voice of the 1980s–90s, which you might not immediately link to a baby voice, until you consider that it served as a “social function” to “survive in a world that tells us smart girls aren’t cool.” So in this case, "airheaded speech” actually “created sisterhood,” Platis noted, “during an era of intense economic competition.”

 voice, voiceover, voiceover actor, voiceover actress, history, tawny platis, women's history Assuming girls are dumb because of their voice? As if!  media1.giphy.com  

The Valley Girl then evolved into the 2000’s “Reality Blonde,” aka the Kim Kardashian/Paris Hilton vocal fry so many people have STRONG feelings about. As Platis explained, this vocal placement, however dumb it sounds, was a “calculated business strategy"—essentially a way to “monetize” being "underestimated."

 voice, voiceover, voiceover actor, voiceover actress, history, tawny platis, women's history Voice as branding? That's hot.  media4.giphy.com  

Pulling off a perfect Jennifer Coolidge impression, Platis then dived into what she called the “Camp Queen” of the 2010s. Again, I personally never would have labeled this as a baby voice, but it totally makes sense when Platis breaks down how it really is “baby talk that’s 'so exaggerated it’s now satire,'” used to make you “question why you thought women who sounded like this weren’t really that smart.”

 voice, voiceover, voiceover actor, voiceover actress, history, tawny platis, women's history Does this voice make you want a hotdog real bad?  media2.giphy.com  

Last but certainly not least, Platis delivers the 2020s “Bimbo Reclamation” voice, which aims to “be adorable and disarm the patriarchy.” It’s attention-grabbing, performative, and very self-aware. As Platis said, “the girlies who get it, get it, and the girlies who don’t, don't."

 voice, voiceover, voiceover actor, voiceover actress, history, tawny platis, women's history It's called neo-feminism, bestie.  media2.giphy.com  

Watch the magic happen here:

Wow, what a fun ride, right? Just so much to love here. Platis’s amazing talent, finding a new appreciation for the way women have navigated a patriarchal society throughout history, learning how seemingly unrelated trends are actually connected, and of course, discovering how our own collective psychology is reflected in literally everything.

Judging from the comments, I wasn't the only one who enjoyed watching:

“Now this is the history class I can actually stay awake for. Very well explained.”

“Yes thank you! I love when a video explains random thoughts that have been flying around my brain for years.”

“Everything you said was factual to the tone and era. Good job.”

“Bruh your talent is phenomenal! Thanks for educating us in a funny manner.”

“Love your deep dives into voice trends 💕”

For even more awesome videos just like this one, give Platis a follow on Instagram.

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