If you still call your significant other “Honey,” there’s a decent chance you also keep a landline and refer to texting as “sending a message.”
A new nationwide poll by YouGov reveals that while “Honey” is still sticking around, it’s being abandoned by younger generations.
The most popular pet name in America is “Babe”
That’s according to a survey of more than 25,000 adults across the country. Yes, “Honey” is still in the mix, but it’s definitely skewing older.
Here’s how the top five nicknames couples use for each other stack up these days:
Babe – Used by 20% of Americans, but especially popular among younger adults. Only 10% of seniors have adopted it.
Honey – Still beloved by 13%, but mostly by folks over 65. Just 6% of Gen Z use it, compared to a whopping 22% of seniors.
Baby – Sitting at 10% overall, it’s actually the top pet name among Gen Z with 15%.
Sweetheart – Used by 6%, and once again, it’s the older crowd keeping this one alive.
Love – Also 6%. Apparently, we’ve got a few Americans channeling their inner Brit.
Other pet names couples use
If your preferred pet name is even more niche, 2% of people use Dear, Boo, Bae, or Darling. Meanwhile, the truly dedicated 1% are still out here calling their partners Angel, Sugar, or Pumpkin.
Interestingly, the poll found that half of all couples regularly use pet names, but not everyone’s on board. 10% said they’d prefer if their partner didn’t use them at all.
So, if your significant other throws out a “Hey, Pumpkin” and you flinch? You’re not alone.
Bottom line: pet names are still alive and well, but like fashion trends and social media platforms, they change with the times. If you’re still saying “Sweetie Pie,” it might be time to upgrade. Or, just double down and say it louder.
The University of Minnesota’s “Lettuce Club” meets each year to see who can eat a one-pound head of iceberg lettuce the fastest.
The 2025 winner took one down in 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Could you beat it?
The Lettuce Club at the University of Minnesota is a student organization that meets once a year for a unique competition: Where members race to eat an entire head of lettuce as fast as possible. The winner earns the prestigious title of "Head Lettuce" and (1/2) 📹axiostwincities pic.twitter.com/W1CgNYFCNl
— Fresh Off Internet (@freshofinternet) May 13, 2025
Deflategate, lion hunters, and robot murder. Here’s what was in the news 10 years ago this week.
A lion-hunting dentist from Minnesota became the most-hated man in America
Americans heard that earlier in July, a Minneapolis dentist named Walter Palmer had paid a guide in Zimbabwe $50,000 to help him hunt and kill a lion. The University of Oxford had been tracking Cecil the lion – one of the most famous lions in Africa – since 2008 as part of a research program. Palmer and his guides lured Cecil out of a protected area onto private property in order to make the hunt legal. He never faced charges in Zimbabwe or the U.S.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell upheld a decision to suspend the Patriots QB for four games, and revealed Brady had destroyed a cell phone that may have held evidence about the incident. Brady was accused of having footballs under-inflated for the AFC Championship Game earlier that year. The Patriots also lost two draft picks and had to pay a $1 million fine.
Philadelphia murdered a hitchhiking robot
Researchers at Ryerson University in Toronto wanted to see if a robot could hitchhike from Boston to San Francisco. (It had already made similar trips across Canada and Germany.) The robot – named hitchBOT – was able to answer simple questions, and they scrawled “San Francisco or Bust” on him. The hope was that random people would shuttle him across the country. But two weeks in, he was found stripped of his parts and decapitated in Philadelphia.
The brash, kilt-wearing wrestler – real name, Roderick Toombs – played the ultimate foil to WWF hero Hulk Hogan in the ‘80s and ‘90s. TMZ reported Toombs died in his sleep of cardiac arrest on July 31, 2015. Hogan would pass away (also from cardiac arrest) almost exactly 10 years later on July 24, 2025.
She won her fight against Bethe Correia on August 3, 2015 in 34 seconds after winning her previous two fights in under 20 seconds. But it would prove to be her last UFC win. She lost her next fight later that year (the first loss of her career), then lost again in 2016 before retiring due to concussion concerns.
“Left Shark” made a cameo at a Taylor Swift concert
A dancer in a shark costume popped up behind Taylor at a show in Massachusetts six months after the infamous Katy Perry Super Bowl performance. Katy and Taylor were feuding, so fans saw it as some sort of dig. But others said it was an innocent prank by one of Taylor’s dancers and had nothing to do with Katy or Left Shark.
Billy Corgan was sad at Disneyland
A photo of the Smashing Pumpkins frontman went viral, showing him on Disney’s Big Thunder Mountain looking less than thrilled.
— Mike Monteiro, cisgender male (@monteiro) July 24, 2015
“Key & Peele” pulled the plug
Season 5 had just started when Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key announced there wouldn’t be a Season 6. Comedy Central aired 53 episodes between 2012 and 2015. Peele went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his horror movie “Get Out” in 2019.
Jose Canseco came up with a weird way to support Caitlyn Jenner
He vowed to spend a full week living as a woman – including wearing dresses and makeup – as a way of “supporting” Caityln Jenner’s transition. To many people, it seemed more like an ill-conceived publicity stunt. Canseco was in the midst of launching an internet reality show called “Spend a Day with Jose” that never materialized.
The teaser for “Zoolander 2” hit YouTube
The original had become a cult classic, and writer/director/star Ben Stiller had high hopes for the sequel. But critics panned it, and audiences were underwhelmed. It earned $57 million worldwide, but cost $50 million to make.
All-day McMuffins, celebrity splits, and Justin Bieber vs. Stephen Baldwin. Here are 10 things that were in the news 10 years ago this week.
McDonald’s started testing all-day breakfast
“The Wall Street Journal” got ahold of an internal memo that said all-day breakfast could launch nationwide within three months. It did, and customers were stoked they could get a McMuffin any time they wanted, but it was a huge strain on business. McDonald’s used the pandemic as an excuse to nix all-day breakfast less than five years later in 2020.
@TessInWA That sounds delicious, Teresa! Sausage McMuffin date soon!? 🙂
Justin Bieber was dating “Stephen Baldwin’s daughter”
Hailey Bieber’s career was still taking off, and most people knew her as Stephen Baldwin’s daughter at that point. “The National Enquirer”reported that Stephen was none too pleased when he saw a hickey on Hailey’s neck, and that he planned to “straighten [Justin] out” the next time he saw him. Justin and Hailey wed three years later in 2018.
She’d been in a coma for six months after she was found unconscious in a bathtub. The circumstances were eerily similar to how her mom Whitney Houston died three years earlier in 2012.
— Where Are They Now? (@WATNCelebrity) July 27, 2015
Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert got divorced
TMZ broke the news on July 20, 2015 and said it was already a done deal. They’d filed two weeks earlier and had a prenup, so it was a quickie divorce. They released a joint statement saying, “This is not the future we envisioned, and it is with heavy hearts that we move forward separately.” Miranda remarried in 2019. Blake married Gwen Stefani in 2021.
Hulk Hogan got fired by the WWE for using the N-word
He was in the middle of suing Gawker for posting his sex tape in 2012 when the transcript from a separate video leaked. It showed him using the N-word multiple times while talking about his daughter’s former boyfriend. The WWE canned him and removed him from their Hall of Fame, but reinstated him in 2018. Gawker ended up paying him $31 million for the leaked sex tape.
Corey Feldman’s band bombed at a Minor League Baseball game
The State College Spikes were a minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals at the time. The performance by Corey & the Angels was so bad, the team’s G.M. issued a public apology, calling it “far below expectations” and “not the type of entertainment we stand for, or stand by.” It wasn’t even an on-field performance – they set up in the middle of a walkway next to a salsa stand.
A guy went viral for eating Chipotle 100 days in a row
Mark Rantal of Colorado Springs didn’t even branch out and explore the menu. He ordered the same thing every time: a burrito bowl with white rice, pinto beans, fajitas, sofritas, corn, cheese, lettuce, and two types of salsa. The stunt made headlines, but it turned out a different guy in L.A. was already on Day 153 of a separate Chipotle binge.
“Space Jam 2” rumors were circulating
Die-hard fans of the original were excited (and nervous) when LeBron James was linked to the project. The cinematic masterpiece finally came out in 2021 and wasn’t a complete flop, but didn’t do great either. The budget was $150 million, and it grossed $164 million worldwide.
Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj had beef, then didn’t
Nicki complained online after her video for “Anaconda” didn’t get a VMA nod for Video of the Year. She seemed to suggest you had to be a skinny white chick to get nominated, so Taylor – who was nominated and won for “Bad Blood” – took offense. But then they swapped compliments, and everything was fine. They ended up performing together at the show.
Fart-blocking blue jeans made their debut
A British company called Shreddies was already selling flatulence-neutralizing underwear and announced they were branching out to sell fart-blocking jeans and pajama bottoms too. A decade later, they’re still around. They’ve since added fart-proof sheets, chair cushions, and fanny packs to their product line.
If you believe life is mostly caring and collaborative – or that everyone’s pitching in and doing their best – then an aggressive manager might feel toxic and ineffective.
But if you think it’s a “dog‑eat‑dog world,” you might see that same boss as a strong leader who keeps people motivated and gets results.
Those who see the social world as a competitive jungle tend to attach greater value to antagonism, responding with heightened tolerance or even appreciation for leaders who show it. Those who see the world as collaborative and caring, on the other hand, may often view antagonistic leaders as “hopelessly misguided and ineffective.”
Workplace culture isn’t one‑size‑fits‑all.
According to the study, people in the “caring” camp tend to think harsh leadership is a sign you don’t know how to handle people. But those in the “dog‑eat‑dog” camp? They’re more likely to admire someone who’s fiery, even if it means they (or their coworkers) get yelled at sometimes.
The study was sparked by a real‑life viral story.
Remember the Olive Garden manager in Kansas in 2022? The one who sent a memo to staff saying, “If you call off, you might as well go out and look for another job.”
The line that really got people was, “If your dog died, you need to bring him in and prove it.” 👀
The manager got fired, but plenty of people online defended the tough‑love approach, blaming “lazy employees” instead.
Is a drill sergeant approach really necessary?
Again, it depends on how you view the world, whether you think people need a drill sergeant to stay motivated – and also, whether you think your colleagues are a bunch of lazy bastards or not.
What the study definitely shows is we all have wildly different ideas on what good, effective management looks like – what feels like abuse to one person might feel like strong leadership to another.
Do you work better under a boss who barks orders, or one who hugs it out?
Someone got into Elmo’s verified account and wrote a bunch of nonsense that wasn’t very kid friendly – or even adult friendly. The posts were conspiracy‑laced, antisemitic, and downright shocking – dragging in references to President Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, and Jewish people.
Within hours, a spokesperson for Sesame Workshop confirmed what fans were already suspecting. Yes, Elmo’s account had been hacked.
On Sunday, Elmo’s X account was briefly hacked by an outside party, in spite of the security measures in place.
We strongly condemn the abhorrent antisemitic and racist content, and the account has since been secured.
The posts were quickly deleted, and Sesame Workshop condemned the “antisemitic and racist content” the hackers had shared. Some people didn’t think the apology went far enough though, and called on Elmo to resign.
The lesson? Even the most wholesome corners of the internet aren’t immune to chaos.
Incidents like this aren’t rare – celebrity and brand accounts are frequent targets for trolls hoping to make headlines. But seeing a universally loved character like Elmo caught in the crossfire made the situation all the more surreal.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to ensure bad actors won’t pull similar stunts in the future. In fact, we have it on good authority that many other beloved characters are currently being targeted.
Here are some other surprising tweets we might see in the not-too-distant future.
Mickey should get ordained online now, because he’s about to get a lot of requests to officiate. Dust off those Mickey ears and polish that spirit jersey, because a dating app for Disney adults is actually happening.
It’s called Single Riders, and the beta drops later this year. Yes, soon you’ll be able to swipe right on someone who also thinks $8 churros are a core memory.
A jilted Disney superfan came up with it while drunk.
The whole thing was dreamed up by a Disney fan in Orlando. Two years ago, he got stood up on a date, went to a Disney World bar to drown his sorrows, and somewhere between cocktails and fireworks decided the world needed a way for likeminded Disney fanatics to connect.
It took him a while to find a coder willing to build the pixie‑dusted version of Tinder he envisioned. But he finally did, and now they’re looking for beta testers.
Not just for dating.
He says it’s not just intended for romance. He hopes people also use it to make friends. So if you’ve been frequenting Disney parks solo and just want something platonic, you’ll have a way to connect with other people who enjoy spending multiple days a year in the Happiest Place on Earth.
Finding your soulmate at Disney.
He asked people for features they want the app to have. An early suggestion gaining traction is a feature that lets you see if other Single Riders are in the park in real time, so you can instantly meet up, split a turkey leg, and see if sparks fly before the next parade.
Not just for Disney adults.
It’s technically meant for “theme park enthusiasts.” So, we may also see love connections made via mutual love for spots like Universal Studios, Six Flags, Cedar Point, and Dollywood.
But let’s be real – this is really meant for the people who know the Dapper Dans’ setlist by heart, plan their vacations around EPCOT festivals, and want to propose mid tea cup ride.
If you’re out on a road trip this summer with the fam, make sure to do a headcount before pulling away from the gas station.
A 62-year-old man from France is making headlines – and likely sleeping on the couch – after he accidentally left his wife behind at a rest stop during a family drive from Paris to Morocco. He didn’t realize she was missing until nearly 200 miles later.
Yes, really.
It happened on Day One of a 27-hour drive.
The trip was meant to be a relaxing and scenic multi-day journey. Their 22-year-old daughter was along for the ride too, sleeping in the back seat when things went sideways.
Around 4:30 a.m. on July 5th, the husband pulled into a gas station to fuel up. When he hit the road again, he somehow didn’t notice his wife wasn’t in the car.
Not ideal.
The oblivious husband just kept on driving.
To make things worse, he didn’t realize what had happened until around 8:30 a.m. – a full four hours and 186 miles later.
At that point, he called the police but couldn’t remember which gas station he’d stopped at – or even which city it was in. (Clearly a man who does not plan the family vacations.)
His wife was okay, if maybe a tad annoyed.
Fortunately, police were able to locate his 60-year-old wife by checking her cell phone records. It turned out she’d been sitting at the gas station the entire time, waiting patiently for her loving husband and daughter to notice she was missing.
How did he not realize?
Authorities didn’t explain how the husband failed to notice she was missing for such a long stretch of time. Maybe she’d been sleeping in the back, and he didn’t realize she got out to use the bathroom? Or was he just way too focused on making good time?
Police initially suspected he may have ditched her on purpose, but eventually concluded it was a genuine – if completely bonkers – mistake. No legal charges were filed, but we imagine his wife will be bringing it up every time they have a fight from now on.
After backtracking nearly 200 miles, he picked her up and the family resumed their drive. There may have been a few awkward silences along the way.
The first Amazon Prime Day, butt covers for cats, and Tom Cruise is crazy. Here are 10 things that happened 10 years ago this week.
The first Amazon Prime Day was a huge flop – except it wasn’t
People complained the deals sucked, and #PrimeDayFail started trending. But behind the scenes, Amazon sold more products than they did on Black Friday. In the decade since, it’s become a massive sales event and helped Jeff Bezos accumulate enough cash to rent out a whole city for his (relatively cheap) $50 million Venetian wedding in June 2025.
Tom Cruise clung to the side of an airplane
The producers of “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” released behind-the-scenes footage of how they did the shot where he clings to the side of an Airbus A400M. Turned out they just strapped him to it and hoped he didn’t die. We knew he did his own stunts, but damn.
Marshawn Lynch’s socks doubled as food storage
The five-time NFL Pro Bowler was helping out at a free football clinic in his hometown of Oakland, CA when he tucked a few chicken wings in his sock to save for later. He ended up suffering a string of injuries that fall (as far as we know, unrelated to the wings) and missed half of the Seahawks’ 2015 season.
A start-up called Bloxers claimed their special underwear with an inner layer of compression fabric could hide your accidentally engorged junk. Teenage boys rejoiced, but the company only raised $2,400 on Indiegogo.
Meanwhile, a company called Twinkle Tush went viral for selling jewels you could hang off your cat’s tail to hide its butthole. Cat owners loved the gag gift. Cats themselves were predictably nonplussed.
“Ant Man” was Marvel’s 12th movie to open at #1
But with an opening of just $57 million, critics wondered if it would make back its sizable $114 million budget. (It did and then some, grossing $519 million worldwide.) Amy Schumer and Judd Apatow’s “Trainwreck” had also just opened to rave reviews, and the first trailer for DC Comics’ “Suicide Squad” landed the same week after debuting at Comic-Con.
Donald Trump said John McCain wasn’t a war hero
At the Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa, he said, “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” Many experts predicted it would be the nail in the coffin of Trump’s campaign.
Barack Obama said Bill Cosby would keep his Presidential Medal of Freedom
Dozens of women had accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them. Obama said there was no mechanism for revoking a Presidential Medal of Freedom (which the comic was awarded in 2002), but called the accusations against him “rape” if proven true. Cosby was found guilty in 2018, but his conviction was overturned in 2021.
50 Cent filed for bankruptcy five years after being worth $500 million
Fans wondered how anyone could blow through that much cash, and it turned out he didn’t. He was dealing with a lawsuit, and it was a strategic business move. He wasn’t really broke.
DMX got six months in jail for ducking child support
He’d been arrested a month earlier for owing $400,000 in unpaid child support. He spent another year behind bars in 2018-19 for tax fraud. Sadly, the rapper died in 2021 of a heart attack, reportedly caused by a drug overdose.
“Game of Thrones” was nominated for 24 Emmys
It went on to snag 12 of them – including Outstanding Drama Series – the most ever for one show in a single year, at the time. If you count miniseries, “John Adams” won 13 Emmys in 2008, but it matters not. “Shōgun” blew them both away with 18 wins in 2024.
