Nina and Lincoln had been playing a game since Lincoln had been in tenth grade. Each day they would learn a new word and tell it to the other, hoping to stump each other on what it meant. It could be anything they wanted, be it a new vocabulary word or a slang term they had heard on the street. One time Lincoln had even told Nina an acronym his history teacher used to help them remember the important dates of the Revolutionary War.
Unfortunately for Lincoln, Nina was not only the top in her class, but she was already several grades ahead in math and science, not to mention in the honors classes for everything else. Lincoln was smart, no point denying it, but Nina was a genius. He had not been able to tell her anything she did not already know, though she had taught him a word or two to pad his vocabulary with.
But today Lincoln was convinced that he would get her. He had just learned what 'McDonaldization' was by overhearing a group of seniors talking about a sociology test they had just taken. There was just no way Nina would have heard the word before.
After arriving home, Lincoln spread his homework out over the kitchen counter, just like every day, waiting for Nina to come home. They always did homework together, in addition to drilling each other with new words.
"Hey, Lincoln," came Nina's voice as he heard the door open. She entered soon after, dropping her schoolbooks onto the counter heavily. "So, what's your word?"
"McDonaldization," Lincoln told her proudly, smiling. He suppressed a chuckle as Nina's brow furrowed and she looked down at the counter, no doubt thinking. He was practically bouncing in his seat by the time Nina looked back up, expression completely blank.
"It is a term used to describe the process by which society takes on the characteristics of a fast food restaurant," Nina sounded as if she had a dictionary lodged in her throat. Lincoln's jaw dropped as she continued. "It was coined by George Ritzer in his book The McDonaldization of Society." She smiled sweetly up at Lincoln, saying, "Your word is 'facinorous.'"
"How did you know that?" Lincoln was shocked that Nina had, once again, known what his word was. He didn't even know what it meant; he had merely heard it and written it down.
He was caught off guard when Nina started laughing. She pulled a sheet of lined paper out of Lincoln's history textbook and handed it to him. Written in Lincoln's handwriting was exactly what Nina had just said.
"Next time don't leave your word lying around, okay?"
((McDonaldization))