Have we accepted that "hacks" is the new word for "tips" now and how has that happened?

[A580Hojas]

Are we also going to go along with

diaper
sidewalk
color
nite
garbage
check
candy
chips
dish soap
movie
cookie
vacation
elevator

why is hacks not tips de rigeur when all these others aren't?

I think that "tips" implies that you do something the same way, but the tip will help you do it a bit more effectively

whereas "hacks" implies that there is a different method that will cut the task in half

Movie and vacation are certainly in common use and I've seen washing up liquid labelled as dish soap in the UK. That said, I loathe the term 'hacks' almost as much I hate the word 'gifted' because used instead of given!

i don't understand this either.
to me hacks connotes something bad, people who break into computers/security systems/ nuclear warheads.
so i dismiss whatever is being suggested as a time-saving tip as it is already associated in my mind with something wrong, immoral.

I hate hacks. I'm with you 100%!!

Yup we're becoming more Americanised every day

oh, i actually thought dish soap was the hard solid kind that you keep on a ceramic dish at the side of the taps on the wash basin.
not sink, that's in the kitchen.
though it may have hand soap too of course;
but i'm imagining a bathroom, so it's a wash-hand basin.

Saw it for the first time on here yesterday, wondered what it meant!
Makes the post I was reading more understandable.
How on earth has come into being, never heard it anywhere else?

Hacks is actually doing something like separate a pair of scissors to stab someone calling 'tips' 'hacks' rather than walk to the shops to buy a knife.

They rarely work. And if they do, they've been around for years.

I don't mind evolving language particularly. It always has and always will.

I can accept 'hack' when it's in the context of, for eg. 'Ikea hacks' where people who are way handier than me demonstrate how to turn a Billy bookcase into a DeLorean car.

But if it's something like 'put matching duvet sets into a pillow case', well that will always be a tip.

When Take A Break magazine have a Readers' Hacks page rather than a wonderfully awful Readers' Tips page we'll know it's all over.

DD calls them 'life hacks' when they're about how to get the last bit of yoghurt out of an awkwardly shaped pot. I've been known to indulge in a teenage-style eye roll.

ask her if she's got any for how to suck eggs.

I hate it too. It's a leftover of the whole hipster movement. It started years ago with a website, 'Lifehacker', which was basically Take a Break top tips repackaged for a bearded, artisan audience.

I don't think it's an American thing though. I imagine non-hipster Americans are rolling their eyes too.

Stroller 🙄

I also hate "shout outs" and "calling someone out". What was calling someone out called before? Pulling someone up? Urgh. I know language evolves but it's been accelerated by social media.

I also hate hacks and life hacks- so annoying but I’m not sure why.

I have sometimes wondered this ... what did we call 'calling someone out' before. I think the answer is we probably didn't do as much of it, whether or not you think that is a good thing 😀

Hacks, eurgh.

Could not have put this any better

The one I hate is 'reached out'

What's wrong with just plain contacting

Annoying word...and all these hacks seem to come over from australia...how to clean windows ....duh.....!!!

Yes, I was going to post and say I’ve noticed “hack” being overused too but now I’ve realised it’s just another Americanism-bashing thread.

@alexdgr8 Hello Professor Falken !

Agree with what you wrote, remember the film war games?

All of those are making me twitch! They're fine in America if they want to see them. We have perfectly usable words here which have served us well thus far!!

Also creeping in is closet instead of wardrobe. Totally unnecessary and eye roll inducing. Also beating out and swapping out. No need for the extra word FFS. I am very annoyed too, by all this pathetic reaching out instead of straightforward contacting.

Calling out is nauseatingly sanctimonious to me. It used to simply be bringing things to people's attention.

I'd guess it's rebranding and marketing to make the "tips" seem new and fresh