saturated · construct · first recorded 2026-07-02 · registers: genres
Announcing the good part instead of delivering it: “But here's the thing…”, “Here's the kicker…”. Payoff-promising phrases that rarely precede a payoff.
“But here's the thing: most people never ask.”
occurrences per 10k words, measured 2026-07-02 (run #3, 3 current + 3 vintage models)
| current AI | vintage AI (2024/25) | humans (matched) | canon (great pre-AI prose) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pooled | 0.15 | 0.13 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| hn | 0.00 | — | 0.00 | |
| cooking | 0.00 | — | 0.00 | |
| parenting | 0.30 | — | 0.00 | |
| 1.15 | — | — |
| run | date | AI /10k | vs humans |
|---|---|---|---|
| #2 | 2026-07-02 | 0.35 | only in AI |
| #3 | 2026-07-02 | 0.15 | only in AI |
regex: \b(but )?here'?s the (kicker|thing|catch|rub|deal|part most people miss)\b