From the magazine Toby Young

Are you a ‘tidsoptimist’?

Toby Young Toby Young
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EXPLORE THE ISSUE 10 May 2025
issue 10 May 2025

Last week Caroline sent me an Instagram reel that featured a Norwegian word and its English translation. A ‘tidsoptimist’, I discovered, is ‘someone who is overly optimistic about how much time they have, often underestimating how long tasks will take and therefore frequently running late’.

That perfectly describes me. Caroline is punctual to a fault, often arriving early to appointments, and she finds my tardiness intensely irritating.

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