Reader question:

Please explain “life hack”.

My comments:

A life hack is a little trick that makes a task at hand easier or more efficient. This, presumably, makes your life easier, hence the term life hack.

I’ll give you an example, an example of “life hack” I learned over this passing hot summer. This particular life hack is about making your own ice water and it’s simple. Fill an empty plastic bottle a quarter of the way and put it sideways in the freezer. When it’s frozen, open the cap and fill the rest of the bottle with water and you have ice-cold water on the go.

Clever?

Yes, and that’s a crucial part of life hacks. They are clever and simple. Take our ice water tip again for example. Without this trick, well, we have to buy an air-tight bag, not to say a mini mobile fridge altogether.

Instead, with the help of this life hack, you can put the bottle in your pocket and enjoy ice-cold water on the go.

Oh, life hack.

“Hack” in “life hack” is the similar to “hack” in “computer hack”.

A computer hack is some clever way for a hacker to steal your email password or, worse, the password to your smart phone or credit card.

Clever, maybe, but criminal.

So, that’s where the similarity ends.

Life hack, on the other hand, refers to any innocuous little trick or tweak or change that make life’s daily tasks easier.

And, here are examples from recent media:

1.For anyone curious to learn what it would be like to serve as a juror in the upcoming defamation suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News, you can create a simple life hack in the comfort of your home. First, tee up Tucker Carlson’s recklessly mendacious segment devoted to clumsily decontextualized footage from the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. Then, consult the recent barrage of headlines concerning the latest tranche of evidence from Dominion’s legal team that the judge in the case has unsealed.

Over at Fox News, take careful note of Carlson’s trademark bewildered preppy mien as he pronounces that “no honest person” can accept the politicized narrative of the uprising promulgated by the House select committee investigating the failed coup. Note his gleeful effort to deconstruct the circumstances surrounding the death of Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, and his labored agitprop defenses of the sullied honor of “QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley and fleet-footed insurrection cheerleader Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri. Marvel as he proclaims that January 6 was neither an “insurrection” nor “deadly.”

OK, now that you’ve weathered this inaugural installment in what’s sure to be a long series of two-minute hates orchestrated by Carlson’s production team and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, toggle over to the latest revelations from the Dominion suit – part of a 6,500-page dump of unsealed court documents. There you’ll meet what looks to be a very different Tucker Carlson, who derides both the unhinged dogmas of the election-denying Trump legal team in real time, and vents to his producer that the whole Trump presidency was a travesty: “We’re all pretending we’ve got a lot to show for it,” the private Carlson wrote, “because admitting what a disaster it’s been is too tough to digest. But come on. There really isn’t an upside to Trump.”

That’s not all. Just two days prior to the insurrection, Carlson was privately evincing a very different sort of glee than he does while taking every conceivable sort of on-air affront on behalf of MAGA nation. “We are very, very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights,” he exulted. “I truly can’t wait.” He went on to text this about our 45th president:

I hate him passionately…. What he’s good at is destroying things. He’s the undisputed world champion of that. He could easily destroy us if we play it wrong.

- Fox News Doesn’t Believe Its Own Bullshit, TheNation.com, March 9, 2023.

2.Drew Barrymore is no stranger to a bad hair day. And like the rest of us, she may even be guilty of not washing it for a few days. That’s not a big deal, though, because we doubt anyone even seems to notice. Though we doubt anyone notices because she seems to always have effortlessly flawless hair. Typically, dry shampoo is a common hack for freshening hair. But in a recent interview with The Cut, the actress revealed that her secret to clean-looking hair is actually a pretty surprising cult-fave product.

L’Oreal’s Magic Root Cover Up is known to be a quick fix for various hair problems. In particular, it’s a root touch-up that conceals gray roots in seconds. In fact, celebrities like Eva Longoria and Kelly Ripa are known to be fans of this root touch-up for hiding grays. But in the interview, Barrymore said she used it to keep her hair looking clean between washes. That’s right, so not only does it cover grays, but it can also be used like a dry shampoo to spruce things up.

Not only do celebrities love it, but a ton of reviewers also swear by L’Oréal’s Magic Root Cover-Up as well. In fact, it has over 39,000 five-star reviews that all agree it’s a “great life hack”. This product adds long-lasting color that hides gray roots until your next wash. So, we can totally see why Barrymore opts for this concealer spray between washes. The temporary color can even make hair naturally appear shinier and denser.

- Drew Barrymore’s Secret to a Good Hair Day Is This $10 L’Oreal Product That’s the “Perfect Touch-up”, SheKnow.com, March 24, 2023.

3. A man on TikTok has gone viral with yet another life hack by turning Walmart’s water bottles into an infinite supply.

Uploaded on June 17, TikToker tripsti7’s video has been viewed over four million times with thousands of comments from viewers.

“Little life hack.Go to Walmart and buy their purified drinking water. Read the back, it says ‘return the package for replacement or money back.’ It doesn’t say if unsatisfied, it doesn’t say if you don’t like the product,” he explained.

“What you do is drink all the bottles, save them, go to Walmart and they’ll give you more.”

While it hasn’t been confirmed whether or not this is a real trick, users are split on whether or not they are willing to take advantage of it.

“My anxiety won’t let me walk in there with empty bottles and ask someone to replace them because the bottle says so,” one user replied.

Another commented: “Bro found an infinite water hack…”

• Man splits viewers with viral Walmart “infinite water hack”, Dexerto.com, June 19, 2023.

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

（作者：張欣）