Really Stupid Words, Chapter 22.

Youhear a lot about “hacks” nowadays.

Not,in this case, “hack” as a means to cut or sever or chop with repeated irregularor unskillful blows, as most dictionaries define the word’s original and primarymeaning.

Nordoes it conform to another longstanding sense of being unable to deal with a givensituation successfully, as in “he can’t hack it,” or “he’s a hack writer,” bothof which can be seen to have evolved from the original meaning.

Noris the current usage related to the meaning of the word that came along withthe rise of computer networks and the internet, where people “hack” into computersystems where they have no business being, whether for fun or to do damage—choppingtheir way in, so to speak.

No.The current buzzwordy use of hack has to do with something altogetherdifferent, and I am not sure how or why it applies. You hear a lot these days aboutthis “hack” or that “hack” that seems (apparently) to be a shortcut orsomething of the sort. Just lately, I have been advised of “hacks” for life, fishing,parenting, productivity, health, housekeeping, heating and cooling, cooking, cleaning,clothing, crafts, decluttering, organization, school, math, travel, and on andon and on…

Ona side note, “hack” seems to be popular with the same people who are fond of “sidehustle” (which sounds to me like being up to something no good) and “the gigeconomy.”

Icannot fathom the word “hack” in this most recent—but already clichéd—usage. Iguess I wish there were a “hack” for understanding stupid words.