secondhandself
/ˌsɛkəndˌhændˈsɛlf/nounVerified NewThe habit of letting an AI produce the first version of nearly everything one writes, so that one's own words arrive mainly as edits.
The email, the condolence card, the difficult text to a parent — all now begin as machine output that gets approved, trimmed, or softened. The voice is still recognizably yours, but it arrives secondhand, and the drafting muscle it replaced grows quieter each year. Visible wherever a "help me write" button sits one click from the cursor.
Etym. — *secondhand* (received from another party) + *self*; a self that reaches others through an intermediary. Kin to checkboxvoice.
Novelty check: NEW · checked 2026-11-08
review evidence: wordstoreview/review-batch-3-03-tech.md
Evidence log
No query log recorded.
Method: Editorial batch review — per-word exact-form web search (WebSearch/Tavily) per docs/REVIEW-criteria.md §2