The word of the month for February is “ussie.” (I’ll try to get on a better schedule with these words of the month, like closer to the actual start of the month.)

You’ve heard of a selfie, of course. But do you know what an ussie is?

An ussie is a group photo, often taken in the same way as a selfie (awkwardly and at arm’s length). Ussies are as common as selfies, if not more so. But somehow selfie has become the more common term, even when describing what’s technically an ussie.

Perhaps that’s a fitting state of affairs for the present moment, when our cultural and political discourses (not to mention economic realities) exalt categories and tend to flatten out any nuance or complication.

I was discouraged to see the recent Google Pixel ads about fixing pictures so that they don’t include “mishaps,” which are usually defined as people who are in the picture but you wish they weren’t:

Yeah, the campaign is kind of funny. But it’s a little weird that we want to remove anything unexpected or distracting or unwelcome from our lives — that seems like a fantasy of control destined to make life boring.

It’s Valentine’s Day! I hope it’s a day full of real-life ussies. Much love to you and yours. 🙂