Global Breaking News - Sunday, September 27, 2026

Some unusual words describe how a person spends his or her time.  For example, someone who likes to spend a lot of time sitting or lying down while watching television is sometimes called a couch potato. A couch is a piece of furniture that people sit on while watching television.
* couch potato = 소파에 앉아 TV만 보며 많은 시간을 보내는 사람

Robert Armstrong, an artist from California, developed the term couch potato in nineteen seventy-six.  Several years later, he listed the term as a trademark with the United States government.  Mister Armstrong also helped write a funny book about life as a full-time television watcher.  It is called the “Official Couch Potato Handbook.”

Couch potatoes enjoy watching television just as mouse potatoes enjoy working on computers.  A computer mouse is the device that moves the pointer, or cursor, on a computer screen.  The description of mouse potato became popular in nineteen ninety-three. American writer Alice Kahn is said to have invented the term to describe young people who spend a lot of time using computers.
* mouse potato = (일・오락을 위해) 컴퓨터 앞에서 시간을 많이 보내는 사람

Too much time inside the house using a computer or watching television can cause someone to get cabin fever. A cabin is a simple house usually built far away from the city.  People go to a cabin to relax and enjoy quiet time. Cabin fever is not really a disease.  However, people can experience boredom and restlessness if they spend too much time inside their homes.
* cabin fever = 초조, 소외감; 밀실 공포증