121 Attend

In this episode of NeuroSpicy Dialogues, Cara Jean and Kimberly pull the word "attend" - and immediately stretch it in every direction. Turns out, "attend" comes from Latin for "to stretch toward," which is a far cry from "sit still and pay attention." That little revelation sends them on a full tour of how language has shapeshifted across human history - from spoken word to written word to LOL to the eggplant emoji (which, for the record, sometimes just means eggplant).

Along the way: the great LOL debate of the early internet (lots of love or laugh out loud?), a heartfelt wish for autocorrect that actually understands dyslexic brains, emojis as modern-day hieroglyphics, and a bartender story about a guy who couldn't figure out why his algorithm was the way it was (spoiler: it was very much his doing).

They wrap with an "Is It Just Me?" that lands differently for each of them - Cara describes physically spinning in circles between tasks like a puppy deciding where to sit, while Kimberly's version is the mid-sentence brain freeze where all the words just vanish. Same wiring, completely different expression. And honestly, that's the whole point.