It's odd how something that you notice for the first time suddenly seems
to be everywhere. How did I ever miss it? One example is the word "chocolaty".
I noticed the package for Girl Scout Tagalongs® cookies (by the way, the
best Girl Scout cookie) describes them as "Crispy cookies layered with peanut
butter and covered with a chocolaty coating." I wondered why they didn't say
"chocolate coating". Looking at the ingredients, I realized the answer is
because the cookies don't contain any chocolate. They use various chemicals
that taste "chocolaty." Once I was aware of this, I now see "chocolaty" on
lots of products that I previously would have called "chocolate."
Likewise, I had never heard the term "third place" until a week ago.
(Actually I had, but it had a different meaning. I'll get to that in a
postscript). Then I heard "third place" three times in a week.