Reference

The Glossary

Our original vocabulary for the two-sider community, plus a plain-English reference for personality and behaviour terms.

Site Vocabulary

Original
splitternoun/ˈsplɪtər/Site original

A single dichotomy entry on the site — one 'there are two kinds of people' observation.

"The guitar string splitter has been the most voted entry this week."

See also: debate, the great split

two-sidernoun/tuː ˈsaɪdər/Site original

A registered community member who has voted on 50 or more splitters. The core identity of an engaged site member.

"Once you hit 50 votes, you officially become a two-sider."

See also: splitprint, declare

the great splitnoun/ðə ɡreɪt splɪt/Site original

The leaderboard of the most evenly divided splitters — those closest to a perfect 50/50 vote.

"The pineapple pizza debate is sitting at 49.8% each side on the great split."

See also: leaderboard, dead-even

splitprintnoun/ˈsplɪtprɪnt/Site original

A user's personal voting history — their unique pattern of which camp they fall into across all splitters. Like a fingerprint, but for personality.

"Your splitprint says you're a folder, a trimmer, and a night owl."

See also: two-sider, camp

campnoun/kæmp/Site original

One of the two sides of a splitter. The group a person belongs to on a given debate.

"I'm firmly in the trimmed-strings camp."

See also: splitter, declare

declareverb/dɪˈklɛr/Site original

The act of voting on a splitter — to officially choose your camp.

"Have you declared on the pizza fold debate yet?"

See also: camp, split-and-declare

to splitverb/splɪt/Site original

To generate a new dichotomy using the AI generator widget.

"I split the fashion designer topic and the result was perfect."

See also: splitter, AI generator

to flipverb/flɪp/Site original

The rare act of changing your declared camp on a splitter after reflection.

"I used to be a folder but I flipped after watching a New York pizza documentary."

See also: declare, camp

split-worthyadjective/ˈsplɪt wɜːrði/Site original

Describing a topic or observation that would make a great splitter.

"The way people load a dishwasher is extremely split-worthy."

See also: splitter, submit

undeclaredadjective/ˌʌndɪˈklɛrd/Site original

A user who has not yet voted on a particular splitter.

"You're still undeclared on the toilet paper debate — how?"

See also: declare, camp

dead-evenadjective/ˌdɛd ˈiːvən/Site original

A splitter whose vote count is within 1% of a perfect 50/50 split.

"The morning person vs. night owl splitter has been dead-even for three days."

See also: the great split, leaderboard

split-and-declarecompound phrase/ˈsplɪt ænd dɪˈklɛr/Site original

The core user action loop: view a splitter, then declare your camp.

"The whole site is built around the split-and-declare loop."

See also: splitter, declare

Personality & Behaviour Terms

A

Agreeableness — One of the Big Five personality traits. People high in agreeableness are cooperative, trusting, and empathetic.
Ambivert — A person who falls in the middle of the introvert–extrovert spectrum, displaying traits of both.
Anchoring bias — The tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information encountered when making decisions.
Attachment style — A pattern of emotional bonding developed in childhood that shapes adult relationships. Main styles: secure, anxious, avoidant, disorganised.
Attribution error — The tendency to explain others' behaviour by their character while explaining your own by circumstances.
Availability heuristic — Judging the likelihood of events based on how easily examples come to mind.

B

Big Five — The dominant model of personality, comprising five traits: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism (OCEAN).

C

Cognitive dissonance — The mental discomfort experienced when holding two contradictory beliefs or when actions conflict with beliefs.
Confirmation bias — The tendency to search for, interpret, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs.
Conscientiousness — A Big Five trait. High scorers are organised, dependable, and goal-directed.

D

Default mode network — A brain network active during rest and self-referential thought — the 'mind-wandering' system.
Dichotomy — A division into two mutually exclusive, exhaustive groups. The core concept of this site.
Dunning-Kruger effect — The cognitive bias where people with limited knowledge overestimate their competence.

E

Emotional intelligence (EQ) — The ability to identify, understand, manage, and use emotions effectively in oneself and others.
Empathy — The capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference.
Enneagram — A personality system describing nine interconnected types, each with distinct motivations and fears.
Extroversion — A Big Five trait. Extroverts gain energy from social interaction and external stimulation.

F

Fixed mindset — The belief that abilities and intelligence are static and cannot be developed. Contrast with growth mindset.
Fundamental attribution error — See Attribution error.

G

Growth mindset — The belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work.

H

Halo effect — The tendency to let one positive trait (e.g., attractiveness) colour overall judgement of a person.
Hedonic adaptation — The tendency to return to a baseline level of happiness after positive or negative events.

I

Imposter syndrome — The persistent belief that one's success is undeserved and will eventually be exposed as fraud.
Introversion — The tendency to focus on internal thoughts and feelings; introverts recharge through solitude.

M

MBTI — Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. A personality framework sorting people into 16 types based on four dichotomies: I/E, N/S, T/F, J/P.
Metacognition — Thinking about one's own thinking — awareness and understanding of one's cognitive processes.

N

Neuroticism — A Big Five trait. High scorers experience more negative emotions and emotional instability.

O

Openness to experience — A Big Five trait. High scorers are curious, creative, and open to new ideas.
Optimism bias — The tendency to believe that one is less likely to experience negative events than others.

P

Personality type — A category of personality based on consistent patterns of thought, feeling, and behaviour.
Projection — Attributing one's own unacceptable thoughts or feelings to others.
Psychological safety — A shared belief that a team or group is safe for interpersonal risk-taking and honest expression.

R

Rationalisation — Constructing a logical justification for a decision or feeling that was actually made on emotional grounds.
Rumination — Repetitive, passive focus on distress and its causes and consequences.

S

Self-efficacy — A person's belief in their own ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task.
Social comparison theory — The idea that people determine their own worth by comparing themselves to others.
Sunk cost fallacy — Continuing a behaviour because of previously invested resources (time, money, effort), even when it's no longer rational.

T

Theory of mind — The ability to attribute mental states (beliefs, desires, intentions) to others and understand that they differ from one's own.
Tribalism — The human tendency to form groups and favour in-group members over out-group members.
Type A personality — A personality pattern characterised by competitiveness, urgency, and hostility. Associated with higher stress.
Type B personality — A personality pattern characterised by relaxed, patient, and less competitive behaviour.

U

Unconscious bias — Implicit stereotypes or attitudes that affect decisions and actions without conscious awareness.

V

Validation — Acknowledging and accepting another person's thoughts, feelings, and experiences as understandable.
Vulnerability — The willingness to expose oneself to emotional risk, uncertainty, or emotional exposure.

Jump to

Which kind are you?

Declare your camp on today's most divisive splitters.

12

Original terms coined

44

Standard terms defined