one weird trick
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.31 in modern English
23
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
1
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A supposed unusual and little-known solution to a problem, offered in deceptive and misleading advertising on the Internet.
Informal
Example Sentences
- "The text itself read only slightly less formally and considerably more like a legitimate online resource than what Helen had expected: either a string of gibberish or else something comparable to the meaningless hyperbole of online ads promising to reveal one weird trick to weight loss, sexual stamina, or immense riches."
- "The same questions over and over, as if somehow this time I would give them a different answer, something easy that would solve everything. One Weird Trick to Cure Autism!"
- "The phonestack game isn't a “life hack” or a “brain hack” or a clickbaity “this one weird trick” or a clinically or even anecdotally psychologically effective mechanism for exercising willpower—it's just another thing you can do with your phones at dinner."
Etymology
One of various collocations that were found empirically in A-B testing to have high clickbait effectiveness, at least at the time when they were not yet hackneyed. The choice of words was driven by their clickbaiting power.