In a March 2 Sacramento Bee article, Professor of English Rachelle Waksler commented on efforts to get the word "hella" recognized as a unit of measurement akin to "milli" or "giga." Hella is popular slang synonym for really or a lot that began in Northern California. In the article, Waksler explained the phrase's meaning. "'Hella' is an intensifier, which is a kind of adverb that is used to place targets on a continuum for some salient property," Waksler said.
It's in the eyes
In a March 1 KGO-TV story, Professor of Psychology David Matsumoto offered tips for how to tell if a person is being dishonest. Matsumoto described "micro expressions," which offer clues to whether somebody is lying. He said that the presence of a micro expression doesn't necessary mean a person is lying, but that maybe there is more to the story than they're telling. "Micro expressions are a particular type of facial expressions of an emotion that goes on and off a face really, really quickly and these are signs of emotions that are concealed," Matsumoto said.