rubberneck

en-verb

rubberneck (third-person singular simple present rubbernecks, present participle rubbernecking, simple past and past participle rubbernecked)

rubbernecks (present singular third-person)
rubbernecking (participle present)
rubbernecked (participle past)
rubbernecked (past)

The driver was so busy rubbernecking, trying to get a good view of the accident, that he was almost part of another accident.

To watch by craning the neck (as though it were made of rubber), especially if the observer and observed are in motion relative to each other.

Hoover’s books go down like a T.M.I. Facebook confessional, rubbernecking you in from the first sentence. Certain patterns quickly emerge.

2023 July 6, Pamela Paul, “What’s the Story With Colleen Hoover?”, in The New York Times:

To cause (someone) to watch in fascinated horror, as if rubbernecking to see a roadside accident.


hometown

These vehicles convey Esther from her hometown hospital, then to a city hospital, and finally from the city hospital in another hearselike conveyance […]

1994, Lindsey Tucker, Textual escap(e)ades:

“It’s not good stewardship. If the guests wanted to walk through a funhouse with guys jumping out of the shadows saying ‘booga-booga,’ they’d go to one of the Halloween Houses in their hometowns. The Mansion’s better than that. I can’t be a part of this plan.”

2003, Cory Doctorow, chapter 6, in Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom:

An individual’s place of birth, childhood home, or place of main residence.

hometown decision, hometown verdict

(attributive) Designating a decision or judgement that is biased, or perceived to be biased, in favour of local preference.


cutwater

Rynchops niger
Rynchops niger#Translingual

A black skimmer; a sea bird of the species Rynchops niger, that flies low over the sea, "cutting" the water surface with its lower mandible to catch small fish.


cop shop

From cop (“police officer”) + shop (“workplace”).

1977-1984, Cop Shop (title of an Australian television series).

Billy Suggs spotted Sam standing outside the cop shop when he still was two blocks away.

“Could you go up the cop shop and bring Paul home again” said Heather.

2007, Rachel Bramble, Stephanie Clover, page 47:

He then drove up to the township and dragged me inside the cop shop.

2011, Robert Watkins, A Face in the Crowd, page 40:

(UK, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, slang) A police station.


teammate

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-teammate.wav

Pass the ball to your teammate.


steam shovel

(historical) An excavating machine designed to effect a shovelling action through steam power.

蒸汽挖掘機

(by extension) Any excavating machine of similar design, no matter how powered.


steam shovel

steam shovel (third-person singular simple present steam shovels, present participle steam shovelling or (US) steam shoveling, simple past and past participle steam shovelled or (US) steam shoveled)

steam shovels (present singular third-person)
steam shovelling (participle present)
steam shoveling (US participle present)
steam shovelled (participle past)
steam shovelled (past)
steam shoveled (US participle past)
steam shoveled (US past)

At Lahontan the teams were engaged on the earthwork of the dike with the adjoining Lahontan Beach canal south of the dam. Paving of the up-stream slope of the dam was carried out by night shift in steam shoveling rock at the quarry and delivering by cars and cableway to the dam, where paving was placed by day shift and nearly completed to the present top of the dam at the end of the month.

1914 February, “Construction Work, January”, in Reclamation Record, volume 5, number 2, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Reclamation Service, →OCLC, page 66, column 2:

[H]ere in America there are mountains of oil rock which can be blasted and steam-shoveled and transported by gravity to great retorts which will turn out oil and fertilizer in limitless quantities.

1918 February, Guy Elliott Mitchell, “Billions of Barrels of Oil Locked up in Rocks”, in Gilbert H[ovey] Grosvenor, editor, National Geographic, volume XXXIII, number 2, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 205, column 2:

Considerable copper ore, steam-shoveled from Sacramento Hill and piled at Bisbee, was of smelting and milling grade, and some of it was put on the dump for heap leaching.

1922 November 28, V. C. Heikes, “Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, and Zinc in Arizona”, in Mineral Resources of the United States 1921, part I (Metals), Washington, D.C.: [United States Geological Survey, Department of the Interior]; Government Printing Office, published 1924, →OCLC, page 321:

I do know that some of the most influential people in the oil-mining industry have made some investigations with a view of steam shoveling certain areas, and that they found conditions were such, with the beds of barren material lying between the high-grade product, that they could not steam shovel it, […]

1931 February 17, Mark L. Requa, quotee, “Statement of Harold Walker, Representing the Pan American Petrolum & Transport Co., New York City”, in Regulating Importation of Petroleum and Related Products: Hearings before the Committee of Ways and Means, House of Representatives, Seventy-first Congress, Third Session on H.R. 16585: A Bill to Regulate Commerce between the United States and Foreign Countries in Crude Petroleum and All Products of Petroleum, including Fuel Oil, and to Limit the Importation thereof, and for Other Purposes […], Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 297:

Approximately eighty-five percent of the iron mined in the United States in recent decades has come from the ore ranges adjoining the upper Lakes, and most of all from the fabulous Mesabi Range, some fifty miles northwest of Duluth, now steam-shovelled deep in what was recently a frontier wilderness of snow, lakes and northern forests, […]

1943 March 19, “Appendix DD: The War Shipping Panel [Opinion on Union Maintenance]”, in The Termination Report of the National War Labor Board: Industrial Disputes and Wage Stabilization in Wartime: January 12, 1942 – December 31, 1945, volume III (Appendixes to Volume I, Part II), Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, published 1947, →OCLC, page 234:

At first I was acutely aware of how close we were, but then—when Dan started steam-shoveling food into his mouth—I laughted and relaxed into the moment.

2008, Terri Clark, chapter 7, in Sleepless, New York, N.Y.: HarperTeen, HarperCollins Publishers, →ISBN, page 95:

I'm steam-shoveling scrambled eggs and pancakes with syrup into my mouth next morning when Dad sits down with the newspaper.

2008, Coleen Murtagh Paratore, “Tucker, Jupey, and Stew”, in The Funeral Director’s Son, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, →ISBN, page 40:

Jesse imagined a group of Children back there steam shoveling the mashed corpses out of the way, an assembly line of the beasts passing the deat and wounded back toward the arena.

2019, Jonathan Janz, chapter 3, in Savage Species, London: Flame Tree Publishing, →ISBN, part 1 (Night Terrors):

(transitive) To excavate (a place, or something from a place) using a steam shovel.

kaivaa höyrykaivurilla

to excavate (a place, or something from a place) using a steam shovel

I have never had any experience with steam shoveling.

[1876 September 28, C. C. Martin (witness), “[Proceedings before the City Court of Brooklyn, Kings County, New York]”, in N.Y. Court of Appeals: William C. Kingsley & Abner C. Keeney, Appellants, against the City of Brooklyn, Respondent: Appeal Book, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.: Eagle Print, […], published 1879, page 883:

[I]n the tumultuous rootings of a potato field, in which hogs had long foraged and steam-shoveled, there were woodcock, squatting sedately and boring assiduously in the soft brown loam.

1920 June, Archibald Rutledge, “Twenty Feet at Rimini”, in Reginald T. Townsend, editor, Country Life, volume XXXVIII, number 2, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 92, column 3:

They're steam shoveling there with this great ugly nose plowing out a hole and throwing the dirt up on the bank or in trucks to haul away.

a. 1964 (date written), A[iden] W[ilson] Tozer, Worship: The Reason We Were Created—Collected Insights from A. W. Tozer, Chicago, Ill.: Moody Publishers, published 2017, →ISBN:

(intransitive) To operate a steam shovel.


everyplace

He told me that Buster took her face 'bout right off. Said there's guts and hair everyplace. There's a platoon or so of Payton's bluejackets up there on the View now.


bob-cherry

Playing at bob cherry
Tom and Nell and Hugh:
Cherry bob! cherry bob!
There's a bob for you.
Tom bobs a cherry
For gaping snapping Hugh,
While curly-pated Nelly
Snaps at it too.

1893, Christina G. Rosetti, A NURSERY RHYME BOOK:

A game where one tries to snap at a swinging cherry with one's mouth.


beccapesci

Verb-object compound, composed of becca (“to peck, to peck up”) + pesci (“fish”).


circulatory system

en-noun

circulatory system (plural circulatory systems)

(physiology) The parts of an animal body comprising the heart, blood vessels (arteries, veins, and capillaries), and blood, which circulate the blood around the body.

bloedsomloopstelsel

parts of an animal body which circulate the blood around the body

(technology) The parts of a machine responsible for the circulation of some fluid.


top tier

en-adj

top tier (comparative more top tier, superlative most top tier)

more top tier (comparative)
most top tier (superlative)

Belonging to the top tier: elite, prestigious.


beccafico

→ English: beccafico

Verb-object compound, composed of becca (“to peck, to peck up”) + fico (“fig”).


sin bin

From sin + bin. Apparently Australian. Usage of the panel van sense is influenced by the US trade name.

1972 September, What′s New: Rolling pad, Popular Science, page 70,
There′s a shag rug on the floor, padding on walls and ceiling, and, for extra comfort, a 600-gallon water bed. The Sin Bin is made by Chinook Mobilodge.

1978 March, Jim Elder, Camp/work conversion, Popular Mechanics, page 110,
There is the shag-carpet “sin bin” with its fur upholstery, mahogany paneling, stained glass, color TV and chrome sidepipes.

1986 January, A Family Affair, Popular Mechanics, page 86,
Unlike the full-size Sin Bins of the ′70s, the new family vans are cute, comfortable and carlike.

(US, Australia, colloquial) Synonym of fuck truck: A panel van with a mattress in the back.


scrapyard

A steady procession of new Class 421 and '423' electric multiple units to the Southern Region from Derby and York allowed the despatch of many pre-nationalisation 2-BIL and 2-HAL units to scrapyards.

2020 April 8, Howard Johnston, “East-ended? When the ECML was at risk”, in Rail, page 67:

A junkyard, a place where scrap is stored, discarded or resold.

廢料場

a junkyard, a place where scrap is stored, discarded or resold


bookplate

en-verb

bookplate (third-person singular simple present bookplates, present participle bookplating, simple past and past participle bookplated)

bookplates (present singular third-person)
bookplating (participle present)
bookplated (participle past)
bookplated (past)

(transitive) To affix a bookplate to (a book).


filthy lucre

From filthy + lucre, which appears in the Tyndale Bible, and four times in the King James Version of the Bible, as a calque of Ancient Greek αἰσχρόν κέρδος (aiskhrón kérdos) and related terms such as αἰσχροκερδής (aiskhrokerdḗs, “[a person] given to filthy lucre”): see the quotations and Citations:filthy lucre.

calque

αἰσχρόν κέρδος

(money obtained dishonestly):

For there are many diſobedient and talkers off vanitie⸝ and diſceavers off myndes⸝ namly they off the circumciſion⸝ whoſe mouthes muſt be ſtopped⸝ which pervert whole houſes⸝ teachynge thyngꝭ [thynges] which they ought nott⸝ becauſe off filthy lucre.

1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Pistle of Paul unto Titus j:[10–11], folio cclxxxiij, verso:

A Biſhop then muſt be blameleſſe, […] Not giuen to wine, no ſtriker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not couetous; […]

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 3:2–3:

Both her auditors, brother and sister, assented to this, and declared on their own knowledge that no man lived less addicted to filthy lucre than the warden.

1855 January 5, Anthony Trollope, “Iphigenia”, in The Warden, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 175:

The abomination of filthy lucre has made such inroads among the rulers of the churches, that certain of those who call themselves religious men and women, forgetting the commandments of the Lord have been altogether led astray, and for the sake of money have received those presenting themselves for the sacerdotal order and the monastic life.

1900, “The Seventh Ecumenical Council. The Second Council of Nice, a.d. 787. [The Canons of the Holy and Ecumenical Seventh Council. Canon XIX.]”, in Henry R[obert] Percival (volume), Philip Schaff, Henry Wace (series), editors, The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church. […] (A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series; XIV), New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons; Oxford, Oxfordshire; London: Parker & Company, →OCLC, page 567:

The reason why, like pretty much everything these days connected with the current Duke [Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex] and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, comes down to their various money-making gambits. (With a reported $68,000-a-month mortgage to pay and a hen house full of chooks to keep in gluten-free grain, these days the couple need filthy lucre the exact same way that you and I do.)

2022 November 2, Daniela Elser, “King Charles could strip Harry of Duke title after his memoir, Spare, is released”, in Shayne Currie, editor, The New Zealand Herald, Auckland: New Zealand Media and Entertainment, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-15:

(idiomatic, derogatory, often humorous in modern use) Money, especially if obtained dishonestly.


vomit comet

From vomit + comet, from its potential to cause nausea.

(slang) A reduced-gravity aircraft, an airplane that briefly provides a nearly weightless environment by flying on a parabolic flight path; used to train astronauts or conduct research.


進出

/t͡ɕin⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰu⁵⁵/

/t͡sɵn³³ t͡sʰɵt̚⁵/

/t͡sin²¹⁻⁵³ t͡sʰut̚³²/

/t͡sin⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ t͡sʰut̚⁵/

/t͡sin²¹⁻⁵³ t͡sʰut̚³²/

/t͡sin¹¹⁻⁵³ t͡sʰut̚³²/

/t͡sin²¹⁻⁴¹ t͡sʰut̚³²/

/t͡ɕin⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰu⁵⁵/

/t͡sɵn³³ t͡sʰɵt̚⁵/

/t͡sin²¹⁻⁵³ t͡sʰut̚³²/

/t͡sin⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ t͡sʰut̚⁵/

/t͡sin²¹⁻⁵³ t͡sʰut̚³²/

/t͡sin¹¹⁻⁵³ t͡sʰut̚³²/

/t͡sin²¹⁻⁴¹ t͡sʰut̚³²/

to get in and out; to come in and out; to pass in and out


tabletop

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-tabletop.wav

Some people watch TV, others play tabletops. You might like to work out. The object is to bide your time.

2021, Dorian Sykes, The Good Life Part 2: The Re-Up:

(roleplaying games) Ellipsis of tabletop game.


tabletop

tabletop photography

tabletop gaming


tabletop

en-verb

tabletop (third-person singular simple present tabletops, present participle tabletopping, simple past and past participle tabletopped)

tabletops (present singular third-person)
tabletopping (participle present)
tabletopped (participle past)
tabletopped (past)

(roleplaying games, rare) To play tabletop games.


bucaneve

Verb-object compound, composed of buca (“to pierce”) + neve (“snow”).


rompipalle

Verb-object compound, composed of rompi (“to break”) + palle (“balls, testicles”).

(vulgar) pain in the arse, ball-breaker (person)


gatehouse

(archaic) A fortified room over the entrance to a castle or over the gate in a city wall


garden gnome

A small statue of a gnome used as a garden ornament.

nan de jardí

a small statue of a gnome used as a garden ornament


monkey's fist

(knots, nautical) A type of knot tied at the end of a rope to serve as a weight, making it easier to throw the line.


男女

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (男女):
* → Japanese: 男女(だんじょ) (danjo)
* → Korean: 남녀(男女) (namnyeo)
* → Vietnamese: nam nữ (男女)

/nän³⁵ ny²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

/naːm²¹ nɵy̯¹³/

/nam¹¹ ŋ̍³¹/

/lam²⁴⁻²² lu⁵³/

/lam²⁴⁻¹¹ lu⁵³/

/lam²⁴⁻²² lɯ⁵⁵⁴/

/lam²³⁻³³ li⁴¹/

/lam¹³⁻²² li⁵³/

/lam⁵⁵⁻¹¹ nɯŋ⁵²/

/nän³⁵ ny²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

/naːm²¹ nɵy̯¹³/

/nam¹¹ ŋ̍³¹/

/lam²⁴⁻²² lu⁵³/

/lam²⁴⁻¹¹ lu⁵³/

/lam²⁴⁻²² lɯ⁵⁵⁴/

/lam²³⁻³³ li⁴¹/

/lam¹³⁻²² li⁵³/

/lam⁵⁵⁻¹¹ nɯŋ⁵²/

(literary) Term of address for, or a humble term of address used by, a person who has low social status.


whack-a-mole

en-noun

whack-a-mole (countable and uncountable, plural whack-a-moles)

/ˈʍæk.əˌməʊl/

From whack + a + mole (“small, burrowing, insect-eating mammal of the family Talpidae”), from the arcade game Whac-A-Mole which involves quickly and repeatedly hitting the heads of mechanical moles with a mallet as they pop up from holes. The name of the arcade game was coined in 1977 when it was first sold in the United States; the original game released in Japan in 1975 was called モグラ退治 (Mogura Taiji, literally “Mole Extermination”).

compound

Trying to get rid of spam e-mails is like whack-a-mole: as soon as you delete one, another appears.

Identify a challenge. Put your shoulder into it. Make it go away. Just as it disappears, whoops, here comes another one. It's like a game of whack-a-mole. Trust me, you'll never run out of quarters.

2007 November, Gil Schwartz, “The Office Politic: Escape from the Job Monster”, in David Zinczenko, editor, Men’s Health, volume 22, number 9, Emmaus, Pa.: Rodale, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 122, column 1:

What is unbearable, in fact, is the feeling, 13 years after 9/11, that America has been chasing its tail; that, in some whack-a-mole horror show, the quashing of a jihadi enclave here only spurs the sprouting of another there; that the ideology of Al Qaeda is still reverberating through a blocked Arab world whose Sunni-Shia balance (insofar as that went) was upended by the American invasion of Iraq.

2014 November 17, Roger Cohen, “The horror! The horror! The trauma of ISIS [print version: International New York Times, 18 November 2014, page 9]”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-06-10:

Some flew across the United States; some were planning to fly into London from Europe, though, like many of us, they could only try their best to keep up with the government’s air corridor whack-a-mole.

2020 August 29, Rebecca Nicholson, “Tom Cruise: Another groundbreaking role for cinema’s cheerleader”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-10-16:

With power being redistributed automatically and surging through other circuits as the system tried to reroute electricity to keep things operational, various parts of the ship began to flicker internally as more and more breakers began to trip and were reset, only to trip again. Then, one of the engineers, tired of playing whack-a-mole, tied one of the more important breakers down so that it physically couldn't trip. This turned out to be a mistake, and a cascade overload crippled the ship's radar, radios, and power training on most of her guns. With no way of communicating with Washington, South Dakota simply held course whilst men in the switchboard room tried their best to reset the ship's entire electrical grid.

2021 March 17, Drachinifel, 13:14 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 2 (IJN 3(?) : 3 USN), archived from the original on 2022-07-14:

(idiomatic, chiefly Canada, US) The practice of trying to stop problems, etc., that repeatedly occur in an apparently random manner; also, the act of dealing with such matters in a piecemeal manner without achieving a complete solution.

der Kampf gegen die Hydra

practice of trying to stop problems, etc., that repeatedly occur in an apparently random manner; act of dealing with such matters in a piecemeal manner without achieving a complete solution


road hog

A motorist who straddles two lanes of traffic or otherwise monopolizes the road.


hard hat

My enthusiasm wasn't exactly suppressed - my father had worked for British Rail's property department, and one of my earliest memories was walking around the forlorn buildings at Old Oak Common depot wearing his oversized BR hard hat.

2020 May 6, Tim Dunn, “The Architecture The Railways Built”, in Rail, page 72:

A helmet, usually made from rigid plastic, used on construction sites to protect the head from falling objects.


bluestone

en-noun

bluestone (countable and uncountable, plural bluestones)

Any of several bluish-grey varieties of stone used for construction:

(US, Canada) A feldspathic sandstone found in the US and Canada.


singer-songwriter

From Dvandva compound of singer + songwriter.

A musician who both sings and composes, especially when recording or performing his or her own compositions.


candlelight

candlelight (usually uncountable, plural candlelights)

From Middle English candel lyght, candyllyght, candyll-lyȝht, candel liȝt, candle lyȝt, candeliȝt, candel-liht, from Old English candel lēoht (“candlelight”), equivalent to candle + light.


skinhead

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-skinhead.wav

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *(s)kenH-
Proto-Germanic *skinþąder.
Middle English skyn
English skin
Proto-Indo-European *kap-
Proto-Indo-European *káput-
Proto-Germanic *haubudą
Old English hēafod
Middle English heed
English head
English skinhead
From skin + head.

etymon

Their rules haven't changed: Skinheads are very young, mostly between the ages of 13 and 18, and they come from strictly working class backgrounds. They wear short‐ankled denims, T‐shirts, suspenders and heavy boots known as Bovverboots (Botherboots), and their hair is shorn to an eighth of an inch all over their skulls. They dance the Reggae, a West Indian shuffle, and they drink Coca Cola and they whip up riots at soccer games.

1970 March 29, Nik Cohn, “England's New Teen Style Is Violence”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

By the end of the show, fights would break out all over the place: the Atlantic City skins against the crew from Philly; the oldschool skinheads feuding with overzealous fresh-cuts.

2017, Christian Picciolini, White American Youth:

A member of a subculture that arose among working-class youth in late 1960s England or its diaspora, defined by close-cropped or shaven heads and working-class clothing, and often associated with violence and white-supremacist or anti-immigrant principles.


toolkit

(India, politics, derogatory) Instructions to organise a protest.


shell shock

en-noun

shell shock (countable and uncountable, plural shell shocks)

There's a condition in combat—most people know it by now. It occurs when a soldier's nervous system has reached the breaking point. In World War I, it was called shell shock. Simple, honest, direct language. Two syllables. Shell shock. Almost sounds like the guns themselves. Shell shock!!

2004, George Carlin, “EUPHEMISMS: Shell Shock to PTSD”, in When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 40:

post-traumatic stress disorder
post-traumatic stress disorder

(uncountable) A psychiatric condition characterized by fatigue caused by battle; it is not a current diagnosis in medicine, but it corresponds largely with the current diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.


grattacielo

Verb-object compound, composed of gratta (“to scratch, to scrape”) + cielo (“sky”). Calque of English skyscraper.


day job

From day + job, reflecting the archetypal form: one's job during the daytime, as contrasted with a second job that one works at night, on the night shift or graveyard shift.

One's principal job; one's regular means of income.


limpiaparabrisas

es-noun

limpiaparabrisas m (plural limpiaparabrisas)

Verb-object compound, composed of limpia (“to clean”) + parabrisas (“windshield/windscreen”).


tin-pot

From tin + pot, referring to the cheapness and poor quality of pots made from tin or tin plate.

It was a great comfort to turn from that chap to my influential friend, the battered, twisted, ruined, tin-pot steamboat.

1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I:


asciugacapelli

Verb-object compound, composed of asciuga (“to dry”) + capelli (“hair”).


minimum wage

en-noun

minimum wage (usually uncountable, plural minimum wages)

A part of the Bill went to interfere in the bargains made between the master manufacturer and his workmen, upon a principle which could not fail to produce the most mischievous consequences; and he could not help observing, with relation to this point, that the idea of some persons, that a minimum of wages would be beneficial to the workmen employed, was the most mistaken notion that had ever been conceived, for the inevitable consequence must be, that in the case of a slackness of work, the masters would discharge their workers altogether, rather than employ them at the minimum wages.

1812 July 25, [James Maitland, 8th] Earl of Lauderdale, “Frame Work Knitters’ Bill”, in T[homas] C[urson] Hansard, editor, The Parliamentary Debates […] (House of Lords), volume XXIII, London: […] T[homas] C[urson] Hansard, […]; for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown; [et al.], →OCLC, columns 1248–1249:

The man who before found nothing to do now finds employment at some rate; while he who formerly worked for the minimum wages of mere labor will now, if energetic and skillful, find employment in some other capacity where his earnings will be largely increased.

1846 April, “Mr. [Robert James] Walker’s Report and Bill”, in George H[ooker] Colton, editor, The American Review: A Whig Journal of Politics, Literature, Art and Science, volume III, number IV, New York, N.Y.: George H. Colton, […], →OCLC, page 345, column 2:

The only remedy I can suggest is the adoption of a minimum wage for all employés in registered factories. […] If a minimum wage of, say, 2s. 6d. was required to be paid in all factories, the greatest evils of the so-called apprentice system would vanish.

1896 June 1, Harrison Ord, “The Sweating System”, in Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories, Work-rooms, and Shops, for the Year 1895. […], Melbourne, Vic.: Rob[er]t S. Brain, government printer, →OCLC, page 21:

The minimum-wage law, as it has been known in recent American discussion, and as it is usually understood in Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, does not refer to a law in which is fixed a single rate below which no worker may be employed, although such laws are in existence in most of the Australasian States. The minimum wage, as understood in this country and Great Britain, is a wage fixed by some agency created by law, after due investigation has been made.

1915 April, Cha[rle]s H[enry] Verrill, “Introduction and Summary”, in Minimum-wage Legislation in the United States and Foreign Countries (Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics; Miscellaneous Series; no. 8 (whole no. 167)), Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 6:

The subject of the hearing today is the question on the proposed changes in the federal minimum wage on small businesses and their employees. […] The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 established a federal minimum wage of 25 cents an hour for most workers. […] The current basic minimum wage is $5.15 an hour, with a lower wage for tipped employees, certain new hires under the age of 20 and full-time students who work part-time.

2004 April 29, Todd Akin, Would an Increase in the Federal Minimum Wage Help or Hinder Small Business? Hearing before the Subcommittee on Workforce, Empowerment & Government Programs of the Committee on Small Business, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eighth Congress, Second Session […] (Serial No. 108-61), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →ISBN, page 1:

Perhaps their most austere film, 1999’s Palme D'Or-winning Rosetta, tracks the feisty eponymous 17-year-old from a trailer park, where she lives with her alcoholic mother, to a food truck in the industrial wasteland of Seraing, Belgium. She makes less than the minimum wage, if she's lucky enough to work at all.

2012 March 15, Scott Tobias, “The Kid with a Bike [film review]”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2023-09-21:

At the store where I worked for minimum wage a few years ago, for instance, hours were capped at 39 a week. The company did that as a way to avoid providing the benefits that would kick in once one became a "full time" employee.

2016 February 16, Peter van Buren, quotee, “What Ordinary People Say”, in Anne C. Cunningham, editor, Critical Perspectives on the Minimum Wage, New York, N.Y.: Enslow Publishing, published 2017, →ISBN, page 148:

(economics) The lowest rate at which an employer must legally pay an employee, usually expressed as pay per hour.


asciugabiancheria

Verb-object compound, composed of asciuga (“to dry”) + biancheria (“linen”).


asciugamano

Verb-object compound, composed of asciuga (“to dry”) + mano (“hand”).

Bisogno sapere inoltre […] che per tutti noi Häftlinge la doccia è una faccenda assai sgradevole per molte ragioni (l'acqua gliatoio, non abbiamo asciugamani, non abbiamo sapone, e durante la forzata assenza è facile essere derubati).

1947, Primo Levi, “L'ultimo”, in Se questo è un uomo [If This Is a Man], Torino: Einaudi, published 1987, →ISBN, page 185:

I need to know, moreover, […] that for all of us Häftlinge showering is a very unpleasant task for many reasons (the water, we do not have hand towels, we do not have soap, and during the forced absence it is easy to be robbed.


airglow

en-noun

airglow (usually uncountable, plural airglows)

A faint illumination in the sky due to photochemical luminescence in the upper atmosphere, now rarely observed by earthbound humans without the assistance of instruments.

electroglow

faint illumination due to photochemical luminescence


fan fiction

fan fiction (countable and uncountable, plural fan fictions)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-fan fiction.wav

Etymology tree
English fanatic
English fancyinflu.
English fan
English fiction
English fan fiction
From fan + fiction.

etymon

In the latest issue of Astounding, our old pal and brother-fan, Milt Rothman makes his professional debut under the pen name: Lee Gregor. And Milt is to be congratulated on the story.... it is definitely pro and not fan fiction.

1939 August 19, Arthur Wilson "Bob" Tucker, Le Zombie, number 11, page 2:

I also want to put in my two-cents-worth on the subject of fan fiction. There has been a strong trend away from fiction in fanzines of late: SPACEWARP stopped using fan fiction shortly before the end; ORB followed suit; WYLIE STAR will switch; most of the new mags are starting out with non-fiction plans. I think fiction is just as important (if not more so) in fmz as articles. Where else will embryo pro-authors get their start?

1950 December, R. J. Banks, “Slurp!”, in Quandry 5, number 5, archived from the original on 2013-07-20, pages 8–9:

Laura, whose ambition is to become a professional writer, has been writing STAR TREK fiction since her early teens, and was recently nominated for a Hugo Award for fan fiction for her series ‘Federation and Empire’.

1975, Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Sondra Marshak, Joan Winston, Star Trek Lives!, page 23:

Chris Carter may bar X-Filers Mulder and Scully forever from consummating their deep bond—but it's a common fantasy in the archives of fan fiction, where familiar TV and movie characters populate digital poems, scripts, short stories—even full-length novels—that span hundreds of websites and Usenet discussion groups. Readership figures are elusive, but fanfic's America Online index page has collected a half million hits in the past year.

1997 September 26, Entertainment Weekly, page 84:

The acres of Harry Potter fan fiction have allowed its Millennial audience to rewrite the stories to fit their own values, easing their discomfort (while still luxuriating in the nostalgic setting of the British private-school system, an institution designed to perpetuate elitism).

2020 July 6, Helen Lewis, “How J. K. Rowling Became Voldemort”, in The Atlantic:

Fan fiction writers are just one group now staging revolts against A.I. systems as a fever over the technology has gripped Silicon Valley and the world.

2023 July 15, Sheera Frenkel, Stuart A. Thompson, “‘Not for Machines to Harvest’: Data Revolts Break Out Against A.I.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(uncountable) Amateur fiction created by fans, incorporating the characters and concepts of a commercial media property, typically without permission from the author or owner.


tirabaci

Verb-object compound, composed of tira (“to pull”) + baci (“kisses”).


beestenbende

nl-noun

beestenbende f (plural beestenbendes or beestenbenden, diminutive beestenbendetje n)

beestenbendes (plural)
beestenbenden (plural)
beestenbendetje (diminutive neuter)

From beest (“beast”) + -en- + bende (“mess”).

a complete mess (mess as if resulting from animals stampeding)


teabox

A box for carrying or storing tea; a tea chest or tea caddy.


true blue

From true (adjective) + blue (“steadfastly faithful or loyal”, adjective). The symbolism of the colour blue as representing constancy, faithfulness, loyalty, and truth may derive from the constant colour of the sky, or the tendency of certain blue dyes to resist fading, especially those made in Coventry.
Adjective senses 1.1.2 (“of or pertaining to the Tory, and now the Conservative, political party”) and 1.1.3 (“of or pertaining to the Scottish Presbyterian or Whig political party in the 17th century”) probably both allude to sense 1 (“steadfastly faithful or loyal”). Sense 1.1.2 may also allude to sense 1.1.3 which is older, and sense 1.1.3 may partly allude to the blue colour of the flag of Scotland.

истински

representing the true essence of something — see also authentic, genuine

[…] Mr. Wenham himself was a staunch old True Blue Tory, and his father a small coal-merchant in the north of England […]

1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “In which a Charade is Acted which May or May Not Puzzle the Reader”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 455:

Not that he is a violent Whig, or perhaps that he is a Whig at all. But he jeers and sneers at the old county doings; […] All this is deeply regretted, for, in the old days, there was no portion of the county more decidedly true blue than that Framley district; […]

1860 January – 1861 April, Anthony Trollope, “The Framley Set, and the Chaldicotes Set”, in Framley Parsonage. […] (Collection of British Authors; 551), copyright edition, volume I, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published April 1861, →OCLC, pages 17–18:

Steadfastly faithful or loyal; unwavering in loyalty; staunch, true.

(UK) Of or pertaining to the (historical) Tory, and now the Conservative, political party; hence, steadfastly conservative.


portafoglio

desctree

→ English: portfolio
→ Portuguese: portfólio, portfolio, portefólio (Portugal)

→ Romanian: portofoliu

Verb-object compound, composed of porta (“to carry”) + foglio (“sheet of paper”).

it-verb-obj

Le attività finanziarie che il gruppo decide di tenere in portafoglio per un periodo indefinito non rientrano in questa categoria.

Those financial assets that the group decides to keep in its portfolio for an indefinite period do not fall into this category.

portfolio (area of responsibility; group of assets held by an investor)


split-second

From split (adjective) + second (noun), from split second(s) hands: see sense 1.

It's very dangerous, though, when a man thinks for a split second that he understands death.

1912, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesterton, “The Eye of Death; or, The Murder Charge”, in Manalive, New York, N.Y.: John Lane, →OCLC, part II (The Explanations of Innocent Smith), page 182:

I was in the gutter, sitting my bike, willing them to die, […] or otherwise obliterated because this demanded split-second timing.

1959, William Golding, chapter 4, in Free Fall, Harbinger Books edition, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace & World, published 1962, →OCLC, page 82:

It appears [Simon] Cowell has been taking notes from South Korea, as his next talent show Walk The Line, coming later this year, has also been game-ified: it will see singers perform, then have to make the split-second decision of whether to take a cash prize or risk advancing in the competition instead.

2021 September 15, Laura Martin, “How Talent Shows Became TV’s Most Bizarre Programmes”, in BBC Online, archived from the original on 2023-04-18:

A fraction of a second; hence (figurative, also attributive) a very short time period; an instant, a moment.

一目𥍉仔

fraction of a second; very short time period

一目𱳅仔 (zh-min-nan) (chi̍t-ba̍k-nih-á, literally “in the twinkling of an eye”)

一丝仔久 (chi̍t-si-á-kú, chi̍t-siá-kú, literally “a thread long”)


carryall

(Canada, US, dated) A light, covered carriage drawn by a single horse

(US) Any of several types of automobile, usually a station wagon or van built on a truck chassis.


rainstorm

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-rainstorm.wav

Philander went into the next room[…]and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

To make matters worse, we pass through a torrential rainstorm, which makes window-gazing almost impossible, leaving me glad that the trip is less than 30 minutes duration.

2022 November 16, Paul Bigland, “From rural branches to high-speed arteries”, in RAIL, number 970, page 55:

A storm characterized by substantial, heavy rainfall.

поро́й

storm characterized by substantial rainfall


February fill-dike

Regarding the season, there is an old proverb worthy noticing: February fill dike, be it black or be it white.

1837, William Hone, The every-day book and table-book; or, Everlasting calendar of popular amusements:

January white, February fill-dike.

1851, Thomas Sternberg, The Dialect and Folk-lore of Northamptonshire:

Doris, in her terror, had forgotten that February fill-dike is upon us

1997, Marion Kelsey, Victory Harvest: Diary of a Canadian in the Women's Land Army, page 174:

A rural appellation for the month of February, when rain or melting snow fills dykes with water.

февра́ль-водоле́й

February fill dyke, be it black or be it white


climate canary

en-noun

climate canary (plural climate canaries)

Similar to the miner's canary, from which the term is derived.

early warning system
early warning system

A species that is affected by an environmental danger prior to other species, thus serving as an early warning system for the other species with regard to a danger.


greige goods

/ɡɹeɪʒ ˈɡʊdz/

/ɡɹeɪʒ ˈɡʊdz/

From greige (“of clothing, textiles, etc.: neither bleached nor dyed, nor otherwise fully processed”) + goods.

compound

(textiles) Clothing, textiles, etc., which have neither been bleached nor dyed, nor otherwise fully processed.

raakakankaat

clothing, textiles, etc., which have neither been bleached nor dyed, nor otherwise fully processed


標本

/pi̯ɑʊ̯⁵⁵ pən²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

/pi̯ɑʊ̯⁵⁵ pən²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/


sinivalkoinen

fi-adj

sinivalkoinen (comparative sinivalkoisempi, superlative sinivalkoisin)

sinivalkoisempi (comparative)
sinivalkoisin (superlative)
sinivalkoinen (nominative singular)
sinivalkoiset (nominative plural)
sinivalkoinen (accusative nominative singular)
sinivalkoiset (accusative nominative plural)
sinivalkoisen (accusative genitive singular)
sinivalkoiset (accusative genitive plural)
sinivalkoisen (genitive singular)
sinivalkoisten (genitive plural)
sinivalkoisien (genitive plural)
sinivalkoista (partitive singular)
sinivalkoisia (partitive plural)
sinivalkoisessa (inessive singular)
sinivalkoisissa (inessive plural)
sinivalkoisesta (elative singular)
sinivalkoisista (elative plural)
sinivalkoiseen (illative singular)
sinivalkoisiin (illative plural)
sinivalkoisella (adessive singular)
sinivalkoisilla (adessive plural)
sinivalkoiselta (ablative singular)
sinivalkoisilta (ablative plural)
sinivalkoiselle (allative singular)
sinivalkoisille (allative plural)
sinivalkoisena (essive singular)
sinivalkoisina (essive plural)
sinivalkoiseksi (singular translative)
sinivalkoisiksi (plural translative)
sinivalkoisetta (abessive singular)
sinivalkoisitta (abessive plural)
sinivalkoisin (instructive plural)
sinivalkoisine (comitative plural)
sinivalkoiseni (nominative singular)
sinivalkoiseni (nominative plural)
sinivalkoiseni (accusative nominative singular)
sinivalkoiseni (accusative nominative plural)
sinivalkoiseni (accusative genitive singular)
sinivalkoiseni (accusative genitive plural)
sinivalkoiseni (genitive singular)
sinivalkoisteni (genitive plural)
sinivalkoisieni (genitive plural)
sinivalkoistani (partitive singular)
sinivalkoisiani (partitive plural)
sinivalkoisessani (inessive singular)
sinivalkoisissani (inessive plural)
sinivalkoisestani (elative singular)
sinivalkoisistani (elative plural)
sinivalkoiseeni (illative singular)
sinivalkoisiini (illative plural)
sinivalkoisellani (adessive singular)
sinivalkoisillani (adessive plural)
sinivalkoiseltani (ablative singular)
sinivalkoisiltani (ablative plural)
sinivalkoiselleni (allative singular)
sinivalkoisilleni (allative plural)
sinivalkoisenani (essive singular)
sinivalkoisinani (essive plural)
sinivalkoisekseni (singular translative)
sinivalkoisikseni (plural translative)
sinivalkoisettani (abessive singular)
sinivalkoisittani (abessive plural)
sinivalkoisineni (comitative plural)
sinivalkoisesi (nominative singular)
sinivalkoisesi (nominative plural)
sinivalkoisesi (accusative nominative singular)
sinivalkoisesi (accusative nominative plural)
sinivalkoisesi (accusative genitive singular)
sinivalkoisesi (accusative genitive plural)
sinivalkoisesi (genitive singular)
sinivalkoistesi (genitive plural)
sinivalkoisiesi (genitive plural)
sinivalkoistasi (partitive singular)
sinivalkoisiasi (partitive plural)
sinivalkoisessasi (inessive singular)
sinivalkoisissasi (inessive plural)
sinivalkoisestasi (elative singular)
sinivalkoisistasi (elative plural)
sinivalkoiseesi (illative singular)
sinivalkoisiisi (illative plural)
sinivalkoisellasi (adessive singular)
sinivalkoisillasi (adessive plural)
sinivalkoiseltasi (ablative singular)
sinivalkoisiltasi (ablative plural)
sinivalkoisellesi (allative singular)
sinivalkoisillesi (allative plural)
sinivalkoisenasi (essive singular)
sinivalkoisinasi (essive plural)
sinivalkoiseksesi (singular translative)
sinivalkoisiksesi (plural translative)
sinivalkoisettasi (abessive singular)
sinivalkoisittasi (abessive plural)
sinivalkoisinesi (comitative plural)
sinivalkoisemme (nominative singular)
sinivalkoisemme (nominative plural)
sinivalkoisemme (accusative nominative singular)
sinivalkoisemme (accusative nominative plural)
sinivalkoisemme (accusative genitive singular)
sinivalkoisemme (accusative genitive plural)
sinivalkoisemme (genitive singular)
sinivalkoistemme (genitive plural)
sinivalkoisiemme (genitive plural)
sinivalkoistamme (partitive singular)
sinivalkoisiamme (partitive plural)
sinivalkoisessamme (inessive singular)
sinivalkoisissamme (inessive plural)
sinivalkoisestamme (elative singular)
sinivalkoisistamme (elative plural)
sinivalkoiseemme (illative singular)
sinivalkoisiimme (illative plural)
sinivalkoisellamme (adessive singular)
sinivalkoisillamme (adessive plural)
sinivalkoiseltamme (ablative singular)
sinivalkoisiltamme (ablative plural)
sinivalkoisellemme (allative singular)
sinivalkoisillemme (allative plural)
sinivalkoisenamme (essive singular)
sinivalkoisinamme (essive plural)
sinivalkoiseksemme (singular translative)
sinivalkoisiksemme (plural translative)
sinivalkoisettamme (abessive singular)
sinivalkoisittamme (abessive plural)
sinivalkoisinemme (comitative plural)
sinivalkoisenne (nominative singular)
sinivalkoisenne (nominative plural)
sinivalkoisenne (accusative nominative singular)
sinivalkoisenne (accusative nominative plural)
sinivalkoisenne (accusative genitive singular)
sinivalkoisenne (accusative genitive plural)
sinivalkoisenne (genitive singular)
sinivalkoistenne (genitive plural)
sinivalkoisienne (genitive plural)
sinivalkoistanne (partitive singular)
sinivalkoisianne (partitive plural)
sinivalkoisessanne (inessive singular)
sinivalkoisissanne (inessive plural)
sinivalkoisestanne (elative singular)
sinivalkoisistanne (elative plural)
sinivalkoiseenne (illative singular)
sinivalkoisiinne (illative plural)
sinivalkoisellanne (adessive singular)
sinivalkoisillanne (adessive plural)
sinivalkoiseltanne (ablative singular)
sinivalkoisiltanne (ablative plural)
sinivalkoisellenne (allative singular)
sinivalkoisillenne (allative plural)
sinivalkoisenanne (essive singular)
sinivalkoisinanne (essive plural)
sinivalkoiseksenne (singular translative)
sinivalkoisiksenne (plural translative)
sinivalkoisettanne (abessive singular)
sinivalkoisittanne (abessive plural)
sinivalkoisinenne (comitative plural)
sinivalkoisensa (nominative singular)
sinivalkoisensa (nominative plural)
sinivalkoisensa (accusative nominative singular)
sinivalkoisensa (accusative nominative plural)
sinivalkoisensa (accusative genitive singular)
sinivalkoisensa (accusative genitive plural)
sinivalkoisensa (genitive singular)
sinivalkoistensa (genitive plural)
sinivalkoisiensa (genitive plural)
sinivalkoistaan (partitive singular)
sinivalkoistansa (partitive singular)
sinivalkoisiaan (partitive plural)
sinivalkoisiansa (partitive plural)
sinivalkoisessaan (inessive singular)
sinivalkoisessansa (inessive singular)
sinivalkoisissaan (inessive plural)
sinivalkoisissansa (inessive plural)
sinivalkoisestaan (elative singular)
sinivalkoisestansa (elative singular)
sinivalkoisistaan (elative plural)
sinivalkoisistansa (elative plural)
sinivalkoiseensa (illative singular)
sinivalkoisiinsa (illative plural)
sinivalkoisellaan (adessive singular)
sinivalkoisellansa (adessive singular)
sinivalkoisillaan (adessive plural)
sinivalkoisillansa (adessive plural)
sinivalkoiseltaan (ablative singular)
sinivalkoiseltansa (ablative singular)
sinivalkoisiltaan (ablative plural)
sinivalkoisiltansa (ablative plural)
sinivalkoiselleen (allative singular)
sinivalkoisellensa (allative singular)
sinivalkoisilleen (allative plural)
sinivalkoisillensa (allative plural)
sinivalkoisenaan (essive singular)
sinivalkoisenansa (essive singular)
sinivalkoisinaan (essive plural)
sinivalkoisinansa (essive plural)
sinivalkoisekseen (singular translative)
sinivalkoiseksensa (singular translative)
sinivalkoisikseen (plural translative)
sinivalkoisiksensa (plural translative)
sinivalkoisettaan (abessive singular)
sinivalkoisettansa (abessive singular)
sinivalkoisittaan (abessive plural)
sinivalkoisittansa (abessive plural)
sinivalkoisineen (comitative plural)
sinivalkoisinensa (comitative plural)

Dvandva compound of sini (“blue”) + valkoinen (“white”). Sense 2 refers to the flag of Finland.

af

”Voi yhtä hyvin kysyä, että miksi meillä on sinivalkoinen lentoyhtiö, jos se ei huolehdi maan sisäisistä saavutettavuustarpeista”, Harakka sanoo.

2022 July 6, Roosa Welling, “Ministeri Harakka peräänkuuluttaa Finnairin vastuuta sisäisissä lennoissa: "Miksi meillä on sinivalkoinen lentoyhtiö, jos se ei huolehdi saavutettavuustarpeista?"”, in Helsingin sanomat:

"One might as well ask why we have a blue-and-white airliner if it won't protect the nation's internal demands for reachability.

Finnish, related to Finland or the Finns


spaventapasseri

Verb-object compound, composed of spaventa (“to scare”) + passeri (“sparrows”), literally “sparrow-scarer”.


Packer whacker

The name came about when Kerry Packer, a wealthy Australian media mogul, was resuscitated with a defibrillator in 1990 in Sydney after suffering a heart attack.
After recovering, Packer donated a large sum to the New South Wales Ambulance Service in order to fit all of its ambulances with portable defibrillators.

2006, Taking heart, The Bulletin, Issues 6502-6509, page not known,
Every NSW ambulance now carries the ultimate heart-starter, the Packer Whacker, thanks to a polo field drama and one man′s generosity.

It was no wonder the shipping insustry in Australia was flatlining under the Labor Party. You could not resuscitate the Australian shipping industry with a Packer whacker under Labor.

2006, Australian House of Representatives, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): House of Representatives, volume 279, page 131:

2009, Paul Barry, Who Wants to Be a Billionaire?: The James Packer Story, Easyread Super Large 20pt Edition, page 285,
On this occasion, however, it was not his portable ‘Packer whacker’, but a device the size of a matchbox implanted in his chest.

(Australia, colloquial, informal) A portable defibrillator.


bosbes

nl-noun

bosbes f (plural bosbessen, diminutive bosbesje n)

bosbessen (plural)
bosbesje (diminutive neuter)

a bilberry; a plant of the genus Vaccinium


muttonhead

(British, slang) A stupid or foolish person.


steely-eyed missile man

en-noun

steely-eyed missile man (plural steely-eyed missile men)

From steely-eyed (“having a hard, strong, and determined mentality or mindset”) + missile + man, probably popularized by its use in the book Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 (1994) by the American astronaut Jim Lovell (born 1928) and the American author and journalist Jeffrey Kluger (born 1954); and the film based on the book, Apollo 13 (1995), where capsule communicator 1 Andy (acted by Brett Cullen) says to a technician (Walter von Huene) whose team has devised a solution to a problem with the spacecraft’s carbon dioxide filters: “You, sir, are a steely-eyed missile man.” The book implies that the term was in use at least during the early years of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which was established in 1958: see the quotation.

compound

The "hold" in the countdown of a rocket firing has a long and infamous history. It doubtless is as old as the "countdown" itself. We Brevardians have seen thousands upon thousands of pictures of countdowns in progress, of green lights flashing, green buttons being pushed, fuming LOX [liquid oxygen] boiling off, steely-eyed missile men battening hatches and astronauts climbing aboard.

1973 May 13, Emsley Armfield, “Picture this … a countdown stops”, in Brevard Sentinel: An Edition of the Orlando Sentinel Star, Orlando, Fla.: Sentinel Star Co., →OCLC, page 4, column 4:

Among the men in the Canaveral blockhouse and the Houston control room, there was no greater tribute a controller could be paid than to describe him, in the rough poetry of the rocketry community, as a "steely-eyed missile man." There weren't many steely-eyed missile men in the nasa family. [Wernher] Von Braun was certainly one, [Christopher Columbus] Kraft was certainly one, [Gene] Kranz was probably one too. John Aaron, a twenty-seven-year-old wunderkind from Oklahoma, had recently become one as well.

1994, Jim Lovell, Jeffrey Kluger, chapter 6, in Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, page 157:

At first glance, the stolid engineers and impassive pilots of the Apollo program weren't colorful movie characters. As [Ron] Howard [director of Apollo 13 (1995)] got to know the stoic astronauts and "steely-eyed missile men" of Mission Control, he saw their sense of humor, their wilder sides and the doubts they carry like everyone else.

1995 June 28, Jane Summer, “Tom Hanks, co-stars relive ‘NASA’s finest hour’”, in Dave Long, editor, Pharos-Tribune, volume 151, number 153, Logansport, Ind.: Logansport Newspapers, page A10, columns 5–6:

When [Ron] Howard toured nasa, he learned that the visitors' favorite question was: How do you pee in space? "Well," he decided, "that means we'll have to show it in the movie." So they do. Added [Tom] Hanks: "Maybe in the sequel we'll show how they go doo-doo." Spoken like a steely-eyed missile man.

1995 July 3, Richard Corliss, “Hell of a Ride: With Tom Hanks as the Pilot, Apollo 13 is a Stirring Tribute to the Heroes who Fly High in the Face of Failure [film review]”, in Time, volume 146, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 53, column 1:

“Message reads: ‘Houston, be advised: Rich Purnell is a steely-eyed missile man’.” / “What?” Brendan asked. “Who the hell is Rich Purnell?”

2011, Andy Weir, chapter 16, in The Martian, New York, N.Y.: Crown Publishing Group, published 2014, →ISBN, page 213:

NASA Entry Flight Director Tony Ceccacci said the motto in Mission Control is "flight controllers don't cry." He tried to remain stoic – like a steely eyed missile man – after his team guided Atlantis and its crew through an era-ending atmospheric re-entry. "This will be the last time this team will be together," Ceccacci said, struggling to maintain his composure.

2012 February, Elaine E. Liston, “July”, in Chronology of KSC [Kennedy Space Center] and KSC Related Events for 2011 (NASA/TM-2012-216309), Merritt Island, Fla.: John F. Kennedy Space Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, →OCLC, page 210:

The three astronauts – Commander Yuri Malenchenko, a steely eyed missile man and veteran of six space flights; Tim Kopra, the American NASA flight engineer, who doesn't seem to mind being 'the other Tim,' for today at least; the man of the moment, Major Tim Peake, second flight engineer, the first British ESA [European Space Agency] astronaut, who is grabbing all the headlines in the UK – have a busy morning ahead of them.

2017, Dallas Campbell, “Preface”, in Ad Astra: An Illustrated Guide to Leaving the Planet, London: Simon & Schuster UK, →ISBN, page 10, column 1:

D[avid] M[arshall]: […] Tell me about your steely-eyed missile man nickname. […] J[ohn] A[aron]: Well you know, I ran across the term, steely-eyed missile man a year before that. There was a group of thinkers even back in the—maybe it goes all the way back to military that they were kicking around this thing called steely-eyed missile man. […] I think it, particularly in the early days of NASA, […] it just had to do with the way people react when calamities happen. If they act calmly. It was not a term that was used much in Houston. In fact, it was not even a term that they coined, I don't think, having to do with anything I did in real time. It just kind of evolved. People kind of discovered that term. […] DM: Did anyone call you that at NASA? JA: No. Unh-uh. […] I probably didn't go through all the wickets to deserve that reputation. I mean, I probably do fit the mold. But I'm not the only guy there who was a steely-eyed missile man.

2017 October 26, John Aaron, interviewee, David Marshall, interviewer, Oral History Interview of John Aaron (NASA Interview Project), Lubbock, Tex.: Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University, archived from the original on 2024-03-15, pages 65–66:

(US, astronautics, often humorous, slang) An astronaut or engineer who quickly comes up with a solution to a difficult problem while under extreme pressure.

Apollo 12
Apollo 13
Brett Cullen
Jeffrey Kluger
Jim Lovell
John Aaron
NASA
YouTube


kissing cousin

/ˌkɪsɪŋ ˈkʌzn̩/

A relatively distant relative, or a friend, who is familiar enough to be greeted with a kiss.

Kuss-Cousin

relatively distant relative, or friend, familiar enough to be greeted with a kiss

[A]fter the initial public brouhaha, wildlife administrators will suddenly decide that the classification of the Aleutian Canada goose as an endangered species was a gross mistake all along. Either the bird will be downgraded to "threatened" status—which means it can be hunted—or it will be declared a nonspecies, as has already happened to all its taxonomic kissing cousins.

1981 September, George Reiger, “Conservation: What’s in a Name?”, in Field & Stream, volume LXXXVI, number 5, New York, N.Y.: CBS Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 107, column 1:

Silicon is a “kissing cousin” of carbon. Notice it immediately below carbon in the Periodic Table. The arrangement of silicon’s outer electrons resembles those of carbon. For this reason, silicon and carbon are chemically similar.

1994, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Universe Down to Earth, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 175:

(figuratively) A thing which is related or similar to another thing.


inroad

The noun is derived from in + road (“(obsolete) act of riding on horseback; hostile ride against a particular area, raid”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

[…] That ſince that time he [Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus] was become the ſubject of King Henry [VIII] of England, his Majeſty's [James V of Scotland's] greateſt enemy; and was now the cauſe of all the Inroads made by the English into Scotland: […]

1537, David Scott, “Papers Illustrative of the Trial of Jonet Lady Glammys. I. Narrative Taken from the History of Scotland, by David Scott of the Inner Temple.”, in [Robert Pitcairn, compiler], Criminal Trials and Other Proceedings before the High Court of Justiciary in Scotland, part IX (Trials during the Reigns of King James the Fourth and Fifth), [Edinburgh]: Printed at the Bannatyne Club Press by Ballantyne and Co., published 1831, →OCLC, page 192:

[A] child knowing the heate of fire, will as readely iudge of the perrill, as the wiſeſt Senatour, of the inroad of a borderer, or the politick captaine, of the vnequall encoũter with his enimy, […]

1586, T[imothie] Bright, “The Particular Aunswere to the Obiections Made in the II Chapter”, in A Treatise of Melancholie. […], London: […] Thomas Vautrollier, […], →OCLC, page 75:

Whence is it that ſo many corrupt Opinions have made ſuch an Inroad on Proteſtant Religion, and the Profeſſion of it? Is it not from hence, that many have loſt an Experience of the power and efficacy of the Truth, and ſo have parted with it?

1683, Samuel Annesley, “The Chamber of Imagery in the Church of Rome Laid Open; or An Antidote against Popery. […] Sermon X.”, in A Continuation of Morning-Exercise Questions and Cases of Conscience, Practically Resolved by Sundry Ministers, in October, 1682, London: […] J. A. for John Dunton […], →OCLC, page 221:

[T]he Britains, left to ſhift for themſelves, and daily haraſſed by cruel Inroads from the Picts, were forced to call in the Saxons for their Defence; […]

1712 March 4 (date written; Gregorian calendar), J[onathan] Swift, A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue; […], 2nd edition, London: […] Benj[amin] Tooke, […], published 1712, →OCLC, page 9:

The brave and active Conſtantius delivered Gaul from a very furious inroad of the Alemanni; and his victories of Langres and Vindoniſſa appear to have been actions of conſiderable danger and merit.

1776, Edward Gibbon, chapter XIII, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 368:

While from their lovely climate, the poets native to their sweet south, the old ruins hallowed with the memories of other days, the lovely paintings, the still diviner statues, which had been their constant companions—the character had imperceptibly caught a tone of romance, calculated long to resist the inroads of worldliness and deceit.

1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 181:

[A] certain English colonel passed though the former's country with a body of men-at-arms, on the very day when the O'Mahonys had made an inroad upon our territories, and carried off a frightful plunder of our flocks and herds.

1844 January–December, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “My Pedigree and Family.—Undergo the Influence of the Tender Passion”, in “The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq. [The Luck of Barry Lyndon.]”, in Miscellanies: Prose and Verse, volume III, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1856, →OCLC, page 2:

And everywhere the people, or the populace, take their own government upon themselves; and open 'kinglessness,' what we call anarchy, […] is everywhere the order of the day. Such was the history, from Baltic to Mediterranean, in Italy, France, Prussia, Austria, from end to end of Europe, in those March days of 1848. Since the destruction of the old Roman Empire by inroad of the Northern Barbarians, I have known nothing similar.

1850 February 1, Thomas Carlyle, “No. I. The Present Time.”, in Latter-Day Pamphlets, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 5–6:

If clerks do not try to shirk their work, our whole great commercial system breaks down. It is breaking down, under the inroad of women who are adopting the unprecedented and impossible course of taking the system seriously and doing it well.

1910, Gilbert K[eith] Chesterton, “The Modern Slave”, in What’s Wrong with the World, London, New York, N.Y.: Cassell and Company, […], →OCLC, part III (Feminism: Or the Mistake about Woman), page 177:

[T]he discourse of ornament was energetically appropriated by those anxious to defend masculinity and protect feminine virtue against the inroads of luxury and its ill effects on morality.

2009, Marcia Pointon, “Fault Lines and Points of Light”, in Brilliant Effects: A Cultural History of Gem Stones and Jewellery, New Haven, Conn., London: […] [F]or the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, →ISBN, part 1 (Stories Touching Stones), page 19, column 1:

[I]n many European states, the whole notion of retirement at pensionable age and consequential entitlement to a pension seems to fall within the domain of social security law rather than forming part of the contract-based system of regulation of termination of employment. There may therefore be significant inroads into the notion of a unified or integrated contract-based system of regulation of termination of employment. However, in most European legal systems it would seem that these inroads do not encroach upon the essential integrity or unity of the contract-based system of regulation of termination of employment.

2011, Mark Freedland, Nicola Kountouris, “The Termination and Transformation of Employment Contracts”, in The Legal Construction of Personal Work Relations, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 224:

(military, also figuratively) An advance into enemy territory, an attempted invasion; an encroachment, an incursion.

מעלתא

advance into enemy territory — see also incursion

Three weeks into it, I am finally beginning to make inroads on this project.

You must have been fairly surprised at Dr. Glaser's inroads into reprogramming the brain.

1983 October 10, Eugenie Ross-Leming, Brad Buckner, “If Thoughts Could Kill”, in Scarecrow and Mrs. King, season 1, episode 3:

Even in our post-Darwinian society, with evolutionary theory making inroads in many areas of the social and human sciences, the cynics' insight retains an ability to stimulate and to provoke.

2005, Yiannis Gabriel, “Foreword”, in Ian Cutler, Cynicism from Diogenes to Dilbert, Jefferson, N.C., London: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, pages 2–3:

These insights open up novel inroads in the area of neurorehabilitation by demonstrating that disorders such as amblyopia might be accessible to perceptual training protocols.

2014, Mark W. Greenlee, “The Neuronal Base of Perceptual Learning and Skill Acquisition”, in Stephen Billett, Christian Harteis, Hans Gruber, editors, International Handbook of Research in Professional and Practice-based Learning (Springer International Handbooks of Education), Dordrecht: Springer, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, part II (Research Paradigms), page 330:

(figuratively, usually in the plural) Often followed by in, into, or on: initial progress made toward accomplishing a goal or solving a problem.


inroad

en-verb

inroad (third-person singular simple present inroads, present participle inroading, simple past and past participle inroaded)

inroads (present singular third-person)
inroading (participle present)
inroaded (participle past)
inroaded (past)

[Y]ou muſt not expect him to go with you, inroading or making incurſions into Georgia; for he is an Armenian, true to his faith; and not a Georgian, falſe and diſtruſtful!

1792, Joseph Emin, The Life and Adventures of Joseph Émïn, an Armenian. […], London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 358:

[T]his is the first war that has befallen in my time, and no inimy has yet inroaded far enough into the Colony, to be reached by an arm even longer than mine.

1841, J[ames] Fenimore Cooper, chapter IV, in The Deerslayer: A Tale. […], 1st British edition, volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 100:

All about the dreaming sea-board, but tucked well out of sight, lurked those guardians of the environment—filters, slurpers, booms, vacuums, ultramodern aids to deal with the very latest imperishables. All ruinously expensive to mount, and inroading sizeably into profit margins, but part of the small print that nearly drove Boyle barmy.

1982, Kamala Markandaya [pseudonym; Kamala Purnaiya], chapter 26, in Shalimar (A Cornelia & Michael Bessie Book), 1st U.S. edition, New York, N.Y., Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Harper & Row, →ISBN, page 167:

[…] Kvenland and Scythian Amazons […] poisoned Anund and his troops when they were inroading in Vinland or Kvenland.

2018, Pia Piiroinen, Me Habirut Mahabharata: Part 1, Helsinki, Finland, Norderstedt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany: Books on Demand, →ISBN, page 147:

(intransitive, archaic) To make advances or incursions.

[Y]ea, the Saracens had lately waſted Italy, conquered Spain, inroded Aquitain, and poſſeſſed ſome iſlands in the mid-land-ſea.

1639, Thomas Fuller, “The Character of Peter the Hermite; His Soliciting the Holy Warre; the Councel at Clermont, and the Successe thereof”, in The Historie of the Holy Warre, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck, one of the printers to the Universitie of Cambridge [and sold by John Williams, London], →OCLC, book I, page 14:

The kyngdom of Heven be Chriſt, 'teys reſembled to this noble kyng / With riches inroded mercy for to lern, and to have compaſſion. / One of another, after goddes Faſſyon.

1781, “Hundred of Depwade”, in History and Antiquities of the County of Norfolk, volumes II (Containing the Hundreds of Clavering, Depwade, Diss, and Earsham), Norwich, Norfolk: […] J. Crouse, for M. Booth, […], →OCLC, footnote *, page 127:

Andy was especial inroaded by self-esteem at our success, the rudiments of the scheme having originated in his own surmises and premonitions.

1908, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “The Octopus Marooned”, in The Gentle Grafter, New York, N.Y.: The McClure Company, →OCLC, page 11:

Furthermore, what initially was the main domain of record labels—the financing of music productions—was also inroaded by business outsiders.

2012, Peter Tschmuck, “The Digital Music Revolution”, in Creativity and Innovation in the Music Industry, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, New York, N.Y.: Springer, →DOI, →ISBN, page 194:

[I]n June 2008, the Ras Doumeirah incident happened. Eritrean forces inroaded the Ras Doumeirah principality, a strategic place at the narrowest crossing point to the Gulf of Aden at the strait of Babeal Mendeb.

2019, Everisto Benyera, “Borders and the Coloniality of Human Mobility: A View from Africa”, in Inocent Moyo, Christopher Changwe Nshimbi, editors, African Borders, Conflict, Regional and Continental Integration (Border Regions Series), Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN:

(transitive, obsolete) To make an inroad into (something).


halfwit

(informal) Someone lacking in intelligence.


spitfire

1801, Peter Viereck, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, D.D., Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin., Volume ⅩⅠⅠⅠ, by John Nichols (arranged by Thomas Sheridan), p. 143, published in London
"―But however provoked, are your scribbling spitfires never to be satisfied?"

A person with a fiery temper, someone easily provoked to anger, especially a woman or girl.


love letter

Dr Martin says the address the package has been sent to will likely get a "love letter" in the post from Customs.

2016 August 2, Nick Jarvis, “What Happens if You're Caught Getting Drugs in the Mail?”, in Vice:

(US, slang) A notice from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection informing about the seizure of a personal shipment as contraband.


spiderweb

From Middle English spiþere webb, equivalent to spider + web.

The net-like construct of a spider containing sticky strands to catch prey.

(figurative) Something that resembles a spider's web in being mesh-like, entrapping, or fragile.


spiderweb

spiderweb (third-person singular simple present spiderwebs, present participle spiderwebbing, simple past and past participle spiderwebbed)

spiderwebs (present singular third-person)
spiderwebbing (participle present)
spiderwebbed (participle past)
spiderwebbed (past)

(transitive) To connect or cover as if with spiderwebs.


countertop

The top surface of a counter, for preparation of food etc.


rugger bugger

(UK, South Africa, Australia, derogatory) Someone who is fanatical about sports, especially rugby union, and who can be loud and unpleasant to other people.


nose ring

A ring affixed to the snout of cattle, to make them follow immediately when a chain is attached to the ring.

A ring worn on a person's nose, as jewellery.


black belt

From black + belt, originally named after the dark soil.

The Black Belt region, also called the Black Prairie, extends 300 miles across central Alabama and northeast Mississippi and into Tennessee. […] The dark soil for which the Black Belt was named was once famous for its richness and the abundant cotton produced in it.

2014, Richard Pillsbury, editor, The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, volume 2, University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 157:

The most politically powerful southerners were those who hailed from the black belt region— distinguished by its dark and fertile soil—which contained the bulk of large-scale plantation and hence the highest percentage of slaves.

2018, Seth C. McKee, The Dynamics of Southern Politics: Causes and Consequences, CQ Press, →ISBN, page 9:

(geology) A roughly crescent-shaped geological formation of dark fertile soil in the Southern United States.


macinapepe

Verb-object compound, composed of macina (“to grind”) + pepe (“pepper”).


macinacaffè

Verb-object compound, composed of macina (“to grind”) + caffè (“coffee”).


Caimbeul

Bahuvrīhi compound of cam (“crooked, bent”) + beul (“mouth”). Cf. Camshron.

af

Online Etymology Dictionary
w:Online Etymology Dictionary

a surname, equivalent to English Campbell, "wry-mouthed".


come-hither

(Ireland) A persuasive attitude; a binding spell


copriletto

Verb-object compound, composed of copri (“to cover”) + letto (“bed”).


bunk bed

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-bunk bed.wav

Two or more beds fixed on top of one another, so that one person can sleep in each bunk at a different height.

سَرِير بِطَابَقَيْن

two or more beds fixed on top of one another


cosmological constant

en-noun

cosmological constant (plural cosmological constants)

(physics) A term added by Albert Einstein to his equations of general relativity in order to account for a supposed static universe, since used to describe vacuum energy as a form of dark energy.


cowhand

From cow + hand, or perhaps blend of cowboy + farmhand.

Though a first rate cow hand he very shortly proved himself to be wholly incapable of acting as head.

1886 April, Theodore Roosevelt, “Ranch Life and Game Shooting in the West”, in Outing, volume 8, number 1, page 3:

I'm an old cowhand from the Rio Grande / but my legs ain't bowed and my cheeks ain't tan […]

1936, “I'm an Old Cowhand (from the Rio Grande)”, Mercer, Johnny (music):

One who tends free-range cattle, especially in the American West.

Cowman or herdsman, especially to a dairy cattle herd.


crookneck

Any of several yellow varieties of squash having a curved neck.


δολιότροπος

δολῐότροπος (canonical)
doliótropos (romanization)
δολῐότροπον (neuter)
δολῐότροπος (feminine masculine nominative singular)
δολῐότροπον (neuter nominative singular)
δολῐοτρόπω (dual feminine masculine nominative)
δολῐοτρόπω (dual neuter nominative)
δολῐότροποι (feminine masculine nominative plural)
δολῐότροπᾰ (neuter nominative plural)
δολῐοτρόπου (feminine genitive masculine singular)
δολῐοτρόπου (genitive neuter singular)
δολῐοτρόποιν (dual feminine genitive masculine)
δολῐοτρόποιν (dual genitive neuter)
δολῐοτρόπων (feminine genitive masculine plural)
δολῐοτρόπων (genitive neuter plural)
δολῐοτρόπῳ (dative feminine masculine singular)
δολῐοτρόπῳ (dative neuter singular)
δολῐοτρόποιν (dative dual feminine masculine)
δολῐοτρόποιν (dative dual neuter)
δολῐοτρόποις (dative feminine masculine plural)
δολῐοτρόποις (dative neuter plural)
δολῐότροπον (accusative feminine masculine singular)
δολῐότροπον (accusative neuter singular)
δολῐοτρόπω (accusative dual feminine masculine)
δολῐοτρόπω (accusative dual neuter)
δολῐοτρόπους (accusative feminine masculine plural)
δολῐότροπᾰ (accusative neuter plural)
δολῐότροπε (feminine masculine singular vocative)
δολῐότροπον (neuter singular vocative)
δολῐοτρόπω (dual feminine masculine vocative)
δολῐοτρόπω (dual neuter vocative)
δολῐότροποι (feminine masculine plural vocative)
δολῐότροπᾰ (neuter plural vocative)
δολῐοτρόπως (adverbial feminine masculine neuter)
δολῐοτροπώτερος (comparative feminine masculine neuter)
δολῐοτροπώτᾰτος (feminine masculine neuter superlative)

From δόλιος (dólios, “deceitful”) + τρόπος (trópos, “manner”).


parapioggia

Verb-object compound, composed of para (“to protect; to block”) + pioggia (“rain”). Calque of French parapluie.


false dichotomy

en-noun

false dichotomy (plural false dichotomies)

(botany) A branching in which the main axis appears to divide dichotomously at the apex but is in reality suppressed, the growth being continued by lateral branches (as in the dichasium).

(rhetoric) A situation in which two alternative points of view are presented as the only options, when others are available.


heartland

Halford John Mackinder
The Geographical Pivot of History

From heart (“(figuratively) centre, core, essence”) + land.

ocaq

The interior part of a region, especially when contrasted with coastal parts or when regarded as particularly powerful or significant.

(specifically, US, often attributively) The states in the centre of the United States, chiefly regarded as politically and socially conservative; also, the people living in such states collectively.

Yhdysvaltain sydänmaat

states in the centre of the United States, chiefly regarded as politically and socially conservative; people living in such states collectively


bloodsucker

From blood + sucker. Sense 5 (“changeable lizard”) is perhaps because of the reddish color of its neck.

The changeable lizard (Calotes versicolor).


cavatappi

Verb-object compound, composed of cava (“to extract, to pull out”) + tappi (“corks”).


peashooter

A toy weapon consisting of a tube through which dried peas or small objects are blown.


do-nothing

Essentially deverbal in nature, albeit not from a unitary phrasal verb, but from the phrase do nothing, which English expresses as a clausal phrase.

Manchester needs more railway capacity. Just how that is provided until the new platforms are built for HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail, I will leave for the experts, but a do-nothing approach is not going to be helpful and quite justifiably will create more arguments that the North is being ignored.

2020 April 22, “Letters: Open Access: Castlefield conundrum”, in Rail, page 31:

(attributive) Doing nothing, not taking any action.


blowtorch

/ˈbləʊˌtɔːtʃ/

When the firecan jockeys have flown their blowtorches some 100,000 miles, the doctors take over for the ground physical.

1949, Popular Science, volume 155, number 6, page 120:


breakneck

A dangerous steep place from which one could fall and be injured.


worksurface

The cupboards were oak and the worksurface granite.

A surface, usually resting on cupboards or drawers in a kitchen, that can be used to work on.


szegfű

szegfűk (plural)
szegfű (nominative singular)
szegfűk (nominative plural)
szegfűt (accusative singular)
szegfűket (accusative plural)
szegfűnek (dative singular)
szegfűknek (dative plural)
szegfűvel (instrumental singular)
szegfűkkel (instrumental plural)
szegfűért (causal-final singular)
szegfűkért (causal-final plural)
szegfűvé (singular translative)
szegfűkké (plural translative)
szegfűig (singular terminative)
szegfűkig (plural terminative)
szegfűként (essive-formal singular)
szegfűkként (essive-formal plural)
szegfűben (inessive singular)
szegfűkben (inessive plural)
szegfűn (singular superessive)
szegfűkön (plural superessive)
szegfűnél (adessive singular)
szegfűknél (adessive plural)
szegfűbe (illative singular)
szegfűkbe (illative plural)
szegfűre (singular sublative)
szegfűkre (plural sublative)
szegfűhöz (allative singular)
szegfűkhöz (allative plural)
szegfűből (elative singular)
szegfűkből (elative plural)
szegfűről (delative singular)
szegfűkről (delative plural)
szegfűtől (ablative singular)
szegfűktől (ablative plural)
szegfűé (possessed-single possessive predicative singular)
szegfűké (plural possessed-single possessive predicative)
szegfűéi (possessed-single possessive predicative singular)
szegfűkéi (plural possessed-single possessive predicative)
szegfűm (first-person possessed-single possessive singular)
szegfűim (first-person possessed-many possessive singular)
szegfűd (possessed-single possessive second-person singular)
szegfűid (possessed-many possessive second-person singular)
szegfűje (possessed-single possessive singular third-person)
szegfűi (possessed-many possessive singular third-person)
szegfűnk (first-person plural possessed-single possessive)
szegfűink (first-person plural possessed-many possessive)
szegfűtök (plural possessed-single possessive second-person)
szegfűitek (plural possessed-many possessive second-person)
szegfűjük (plural possessed-single possessive third-person)
szegfűik (plural possessed-many possessive third-person)

szeg (“nail [spike]”) + fű (“grass”), originally in the sense szegfűszeg (“clove”), then its meaning was gradually displaced by “carnation”, based on the similarity of the shape and scent of the spice and the flower. For a similar transfer of meaning from the nail to the spice, compare Latin clāvellus (a diminutive of clāvus) and German Nelke.


holdall

She could see something pointy—a high-heeled shoe, probably—pressing against the leather of her Gola holdall.

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 279:

A large bag for carrying belongings while travelling.


worktop

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-worktop.wav

The cupboards were oak and the worktop was granite.

(UK) A surface, usually resting on cupboards or drawers that can be used to work on. Usually in a kitchen.


landslip

This landslip appears to have been occasioned by the freezing of the springs in the chasms of the hill; the expansive force of the ice causing a separation at the base of the cliff beneath the hill, the ground began to move forward, and the lands of the farm, being pressed on by the descending mass, were torn from their original foundations.

1808, William Bernard Cooke, “Natural History”, in A New Picture of the Isle of Wight, London: Vernor, Hood & Sharpe, page 39:

And wasn’t it a sight to see, / When, ere his song was ended, / Like some great landslip, tree by tree, / The country-side descended;

1842, Alfred Tennyson, “Amphio”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 167:

Though a cliff, or sheet of bare rock, is hardly visible among the glens, yet here and there a bright brown patch tells of a recent landslip; […]

1871, Charles Kingsley, “Down the Islands”, in At Last: A Christmas in the West Indies. […], volume I, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 64:

Then some huge landslip in the thawing air had caught us, and spluttering expostulation, we began to roll down a slope, rolling faster and faster, leaping crevasses and rebounding from banks, faster and faster, westward into the white-hot boiling tumult of the lunar day.

1900 December – 1901 August, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter VII, in The First Men in the Moon, London: George Newnes, […], published 1901, →OCLC:

The embankments forming the lineside forest are also a cause for concern, as landslips can block the line for days or even weeks.

2019 October, Ian Walmsley, “Cleaning up”, in Modern Railways, page 42:

The sliding of a mass of land down a cliff or slope; a landslide.


washhouse

From Old English wæsċhūs, equivalent to wash + house.

Now I'll see things walking a road that fifty other men would miss. I'll give you an instance, connected with the robbery of a wash-house copper."

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 218:

A domestic outbuilding used as a laundry.

(New Zealand) A room in a house used for washing laundry; a utility room.

[…] the washhouses complied with the Factory and Workshops Act of 1907.

2000, Joseph R. Skoski, Public Baths and Washhouses in Victorian Britain, 1842-1914, page 124:

(UK, historical) A public facility where people could wash themselves and their clothes.


飲食

/in²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂʐ̩³⁵/

/jɐm³⁵ sɪk̚²/

/iŋ³³⁻²¹ ⁽ˢ⁻⁾niʔ⁵/

/im⁵³⁻⁴⁴ sit̚⁴/

/im⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ sit̚²⁴/

/im⁵³⁻⁴⁴ sit̚¹²¹/

/im⁵³⁻⁴⁴ sit̚⁴/

/im⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ sit̚⁴/

/im⁵²⁻³⁵ t͡siaʔ⁴/

/in²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂʐ̩³⁵/

/jɐm³⁵ sɪk̚²/

/iŋ³³⁻²¹ ⁽ˢ⁻⁾niʔ⁵/

/im⁵³⁻⁴⁴ sit̚⁴/

/im⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ sit̚²⁴/

/im⁵³⁻⁴⁴ sit̚¹²¹/

/im⁵³⁻⁴⁴ sit̚⁴/

/im⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ sit̚⁴/

/im⁵²⁻³⁵ t͡siaʔ⁴/

均衡飲食

均衡饮食

植物性飲食

植物性饮食

stress eating; comfort eating; yo-yo dieting

報復性飲食

报复性饮食


beauty spot

From beauty (noun) + spot (noun). Some uses of sense 1 (“thing which is beautiful”) are figurative uses of sense 1.2 (“patch on the face to heighten beauty”).

kauneuspilkku

(archaic) A thing (especially an aspect of something) which is beautiful.

A natural mark on a person's skin, especially a freckle or mole on a woman's face.

美人痣

natural mark on a person’s skin, especially a freckle or mole on a woman’s face


lavastoviglie

Verb-object compound, composed of lava (“to wash”) + stoviglie (“dishes, crockery”).


portemanteau

→ Greek: πορτμαντό (portmantó)

→ Romanian: portmantou

→ Russian: портманто (portmanto)

desc

→ Ottoman Turkish: پورت مانطو (port manto)

Turkish: portmanto

Inherited from Middle French portemanteau. By surface analysis, porte (“carries”, third-person singular present indicative of porter (“to carry”)) + manteau (“coat”), literally “[that which] carries coat”.

surf

third-person singular present indicative of <i class="Latn mention" lang="fr">porter</i> (“to carry”)


cavaturaccioli

Verb-object compound, composed of cava (“to extract, to pull out”) + turaccioli (“corks”).


drawlatch

A fastener consisting of a latch body mounted on one side of a door or lid, and a hook or catch mounted on the opposite side. When the latch is engaged, the hook or catch pulls the two sides tightly together, creating a secure closure.


lavaplatos

Verb-object compound, composed of lava (“to wash”) + platos (“dishes”).

es-verb-obj

(Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela) kitchen sink


green belt

From green (adjective) + belt (“band worn around the waist; thing resembling a belt, a strip or stripe”).

compound

Senses relating to an area of land with plants on it.

A strip of land with plants in a place which is otherwise bare.

kasveja kasvava alue

A strip of land on which trees are planted to protect against desertification, soil erosion, etc.

suojametsäalue

A strip of land next to a building, open space, road, etc., with plants on it, intended for exercise or recreation.

viheralue

The LCC [London County Council] would initiate the campaign for the Green Belt, which the men at the top of London Transport would support.

2012, Andrew Martin, “Enter Yerkes”, in Underground Overground: A Passenger’s History of the Tube, London: Profile Books, →ISBN, page 149:

(chiefly British) An area of agricultural land around an urban area that is protected from large-scale building.

حزام أخضر

When the club is fully developed and has a reasonable spectrum of ranks in it, the training schedule should be stable to encourage the habit of training. […] The advanced (above green belt) class meets for an additional hour, three times per week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).

1995, Elmar T. Schmeisser, “The University Dojo: Teaching a Traditional Martial Art in a Nontraditional Setting”, in Carol A. Wiley, editor, Martial Arts Teachers on Teaching (Io Series; 53), Berkeley, Calif.: Frog, North Atlantic Books, →ISBN, page 129:

He estimates it was around 1964 when the Japanese stylists of karate brought in the green belt to bridge the gap between white and brown.

2011, Yvonne Cruz, “Cruz Karate Studios”, in Grandmaster Freddie G. Cruz: Biography of a True Legend in the Martial Arts World, [S.l.]: Bookemon, →ISBN, page 217:

Any green belt martial artist could've done that. Because they were just ordinary goons, hired guns.

2014 October, Sharit Sinha, “The Revelation”, in Blood Rush, 3rd edition, [S.l.]: Sharit Sinha, published December 2017, →ISBN, page 36:

A belt which is green in colour worn by a person who has achieved a certain (usually intermediate) level of skill in a martial art, especially judo or karate; also, the level of skill represented by this belt.

vihreä vyö

belt which is green in colour worn by a person who has achieved a certain (usually intermediate) level of skill in a martial art; the level of skill represented by this belt

After a month I distinctly remember one of the ‘green belts’ giving me a thorough but gentle working over in one of the sparring sessions, I was impressed not just with his ability to defeat me, but with the ease with which he did it.

2012, Noel C., “What Karate Means to Me”, in Tom Hill, editor, Essays for Black Belt, Luton, Bedfordshire: Andrews UK, →ISBN, page 22:

Develop a career progression ladder for black belts and green belts.

[2012, T. M. Kubiak, “Mentoring Black Belts and Green Belts”, in The Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt Handbook, Milwaukee, Wis.: ASQ Quality Press, →ISBN, part V (Mentoring Responsibilities), page 306:

A person who has earned the rank of green belt in a martial art.


lavavajillas

rural northern Spain, Andes Mountains, Paraguay, Philippines

Verb-object compound, composed of lava (“to wash”) + vajillas (“dishes”).


lave-vaisselle

fr-noun

lave-vaisselle m (plural lave-vaisselles or lave-vaisselle)

lave-vaisselles (plural)
lave-vaisselle (plural)

From laver (“to wash”) + vaisselle (“dishes, crockery”).


Rotkehlchen

de-noun

Rotkehlchen n (strong, genitive Rotkehlchens, plural Rotkehlchen)

Rotkehlchens (genitive)
Rotkehlchen (plural)
Rotkehlchen (nominative singular)
Rotkehlchen (definite nominative plural)
Rotkehlchens (genitive singular)
Rotkehlchen (definite genitive plural)
Rotkehlchen (dative singular)
Rotkehlchen (dative definite plural)
Rotkehlchen (accusative singular)
Rotkehlchen (accusative definite plural)

From rot (“red”) + Kehle (“throat”) + -chen (diminutive suffix).


pinhole

A small hole, of a size that could have been made by a pin

These [the eyes of the nautilus] are the simplest eyes of any large living animal -- lensless 'pinholes' that project a hazy and rather dim image onto its retinas.

2012, Caspar Henderson, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, page 216:

The aperture in a pinhole camera or camera obscura

(networking) A port left unprotected by a firewall to allow a particular application to gain access to a service.


pinhole

en-verb

pinhole (third-person singular simple present pinholes, present participle pinholing, simple past and past participle pinholed)

pinholes (present singular third-person)
pinholing (participle present)
pinholed (participle past)
pinholed (past)

(transitive) To form one or more pinholes in.


flatfoot

flatfoot (third-person singular simple present flatfoots, present participle flatfooting, simple past and past participle flatfooted)

flatfoots (present singular third-person)
flatfooting (participle present)
flatfooted (participle past)
flatfooted (past)

From flat + foot. Piecewise doublet of platypus.

And even if they didn't know about her they might know this was his old neighborhood and go flatfooting around asking.

1936, John Thomas McIntyre, Steps going down, page 19:

Meanwhile, a bobby placidly flatfooting his beat a few feet away recognized Marlene under the street lamp and naturally assumed the girls had too, and were merely trying to get her autograph.

1956, Lee Mortimer, Around the World Confidential, page 38:

I'd spent a very long day flatfooting it round housing estates near Old Street, looking for a twelve-year-old boy who I'd never managed to find though the police eventually had, two weeks later.

2017 -, Adam Baron, SuperJack: A totally gripping thriller with a twist you won’t see coming, →ISBN:

To walk around in the course of work, especially when investigating.


fleshpot

From flesh + pot. Earliest known use is from 1548 by Philip Nicolls in its literal sense, referring to a passage from Exodus 16:3, where the Israelites complain to Moses and Aaron about their current situation, reminiscing about the abundance of food they had while in captivity in Egypt; and thus it is a calque from Hebrew הַבָּשָׂ֔ר (“flesh, meat”) + סִיר (“pot”).

nb...

of .xii. men that moyses (by the co􂀿m􂁀maundement of god) sent to spye owt the land of canaan of whiche .xii. onely Iosua and Caleb, wer found faythful messengers

"Mere slip. Serpent of old Nile. Doesn't matter in the least," says Mr. Browne airily; "because she couldn't hear me as it happens. My dear girl, follow out the argument. Cleopatra, metaphorically speaking, was a fleshpot, because the world hankered after her. And—you're another."

1891, Mrs. Hungerford [i.e., Margaret Wolfe Hungerford], April's Lady, London: F. V. White & Co., page 58:

Sue Ellen, Pam, Jenna--the mistresses and wives--come and go; in a male-dominated society every woman is a fleshpot unless she has the virtues of Miss Ellie and assumes the role of benevolent matriarch.

1987, Narain Dass Batra, “Dramatical Serial: Prime Time and Daytime” (chapter 5), in The Hour of Television: Critical Approaches, Scarecrow Press, "Dallas" to "Dynasty", page 92:

So piquant was her delivery that merely by conjuring up one of her lines of dialogue, one is in the company of one of her unyielding characters—a fleshpot or a spinster, a waitress or a queen, a housewife or... as George Sanders’s character said of her alter ego in All About Eve, “Margo is a great star. She never was or will ever be anything less or anything else.”

1990 April 14, Scott Berg, “Bette Davis: Best Actress for Jezebel and Dangerous at Witch Way”, in Architectural Digest, page 248:

(US slang, derogatory) A very attractive woman considered a sex object.


widsiþ

wīdsīþ (canonical masculine)
wīdsīþ (nominative singular)
wīdsīþas (nominative plural)
wīdsīþ (accusative singular)
wīdsīþas (accusative plural)
wīdsīþes (genitive singular)
wīdsīþa (genitive plural)
wīdsīþe (dative singular)
wīdsīþum (dative plural)

Bahuvrīhi compound of wīd (wide) + sīþ (journey).


lavabiancheria

it-noun

lavabiancheria f (plural lavabiancherie)

Verb-object compound, composed of lava (“to wash”) + biancheria (“linen, sheets”).


Portuguese man-of-war

en-noun

Portuguese man-of-war (plural Portuguese men-of-war)

/ˈpɔː.tʃʊˌɡiːz ˌmæn.ə(v)ˈwɔː/

From Portuguese (adjective) + man-of-war, from the resemblance of the organism’s float to a former Portuguese warship at full sail.

However, two beaches in Tarragona in southern Catalonia were closed in July after Portuguese man o’war (Physalia physalis) were spotted in the water.

2024 August 24, Stephen Burgen, “Resorts on Spain’s Costa Brava struggle with invasion of jellyfish as seas warm”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Physalia physalis
Physalia physalis#Translingual

Physalia physalis, a marine cnidarian consisting of a floating colony of hydrozoans attached to a float, superficially resembling a jellyfish.


selfbow

From self (“having its own or a single nature or character throughout without addition or change, unmixed; (archery) of a bow: made from a single piece of wood”, adjective) + bow.

compound

With reſpect to a bow being made round, we muſt recollect, that [Roger] Aſcham ſpeaks of a ſelf'''-bow; which, it ſeems, was made round as well as the back as in the belly: but back'd-bows have almoſt always a flat back, to prevent their caſting.

1801, T[homas] Roberts, “Of the Bow”, in The English Bowman, or Tracts on Archery; […], London: […] [F]or the author, by C. Roworth, […]; [s]old by Mr. [Thomas] Edgerton, […]; [a]lso by Mr. [Thomas] Waring, […], →OCLC, section III (Of Proving the Bow), page 141:

Many Archers use a piece of waxed cloth, which is of great utility, as it not only gives the Bow a polish, but is a preventative against damps penetrating; this precaution however, is not so much required for self Bows, as backed ones. Self Bows are made of one piece of wood only, and that is generally of yew, but the long known difficulty of procuring good English yew, has compelled Bow makers of late years, to resort to various other woods, all containing great spring, but little pliability; the deficiency of the latter is amply supplied by the addition of a slip of ash, or some other tough wood glued to them; the toughness of the one combined to the elasticity of the other, both acting in conjunction, make capital Bows, and these it is that are called back'd Bows.

1820, Thomas Waring, “Attitude in Shooting”, in A Treatise on Archery; or, The Art of Shooting with the Long Bow. […], 2nd edition, London: […] A. Seale [for Thomas Waring], →OCLC, page 21:

[A] backed bow does not exceed a self bow, except that it is thought by some to be pleasanter and easier to draw, especially in the last inch, and of quicker cast.

1831, T[homas] B[urgeland] Johnson, “BOW”, in The Sportsman’s Cyclopedia; […], London: Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper, […], →OCLC, page 78:

I once made a beautiful self-bow from a large branch of yew, which was amputated, after two valuable coach-horses had been poisoned by feeding on its leaves.

1840, George Agar Hansard, “Section VIII. Of Yew Trees, Yew Bows, &c. &c.”, in The Book of Archery, London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans, […], →OCLC, footnote *, page 350:

Modern bows are of two kinds, viz. self bows and backed bows. The self bow is composed of only one kind of wood; but the backed bow is composed of two kinds of wood, both the full length of the bow, carefully joined together.

1845, [Jane] Loudon, “Letter XVIII. Archery: Targets; Self Bows and Backed Bows; …”, in The Lady’s Country Companion; or, How to Enjoy a Country Life Rationally, London: […] [Andrew Spottiswoode] for Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, […], →OCLC, book V (Country Amusements), page 366:

The self-bow is the real old Engish weapon; the one with which the many mighty deeds that rendered this country renowned in times gone by were performed; […] Of the woods for self-bows, Yew beyond all question carries off the palm; other woods have been, and still are, in use, such as lance, Cocus, Washaba, Rose, Snake, and some others; but they may be summarily dismissed with the remark, that self-bows made of these woods are all, without exception radically bad, being heavy in hand, apt to jar, comparatively dull in cast, and very liable to chrysal and break, and that no archer should use them so long as a self-yew or a good backed-bow is within his reach.

1856, Horace A[lfred] Ford, “Of the Bow”, in Archery: Its Theory and Practice, London: J. Buchanan, […]; Cheltenham, Gloucestershire: H[enry] Davies, […], →OCLC, page 14:

Bows were of several types. Most common was a selfbow (a bow made of a single piece of wood with no laminating materials) of springy wood tapering toward both ends and sometimes narrowed at the grip.

1995, Harvey Markowitz, “Bows, Arrows, and Quivers”, in American Indians (A Magill Book), volumes 1 (A–Hay), Pasadena, Calif.; Hackensack, N.J.: Salem Press, →ISBN; republished in Carole A. Barrett, Harvey J. Markowitz, editors, American Indian Culture (Magill’s Choice), volumes 1 (Acorns–Headdresses), Pasadena, Calif.; Hackensack, N.J.: Salem Press, 2004, →ISBN, page 148:

If the design of the weapon is moderate enough to be successful as an all wood selfbow then the addition of sinew and horn will probably result in a net loss of arrow performance.

2001, Hari Heath, “Wood under Stress”, in David Wescott, editor, Primitive Technology II: Ancestral Skills […], Salt Lake City, Ut.: Gibbs Smith, →ISBN, section 4 (Projectiles—Bows and Arrows), page 106, column 1:

The recurved bow design originated in antiquity when the longbow, or self[-]bow, made entirely from wood, was reinforced with animal sinew to produce adequate energy in a shorter bow suitable for mounted archers.

2005, Tom Airhart, “Personal Gear”, in Elk Hunting Guide: Skills, Gear, and Insight, Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 259:

(archery) A bow made from a single piece of wood (often referred to as a bow stave).


夫婦

/fuː⁵⁵ fuː¹³/

/fu²⁴⁻¹¹ fu⁵⁵/

/hu⁴⁴⁻³³ hu³³/

/hu⁴⁴⁻²² hu²²/

/hu³³⁻²³ hu³⁵/

/fuː⁵⁵ fuː¹³/

/fu²⁴⁻¹¹ fu⁵⁵/

/hu⁴⁴⁻³³ hu³³/

/hu⁴⁴⁻²² hu²²/

/hu³³⁻²³ hu³⁵/

(collective) husband and wife; married couple (Classifier: 對／对 m)


夫婦

chữ Hán form of phu phụ (“married couple”).


asciugamani

Verb-object compound, composed of asciuga (“to dry”) + mani (“hands”).


candlewick

en-noun

candlewick (countable and uncountable, plural candlewicks)

From Middle English candelwyk, candelwike, from Old English candelweoc, candelwēoce (“candlewick”), equivalent to candle + wick.

The thread used to make the wicks of candles.


salvaguardia

Verb-object compound, composed of salva (“to save”) + guardia (“guard”).


fusspot

My teacher is such a fusspot, he marks us down for handwriting!

(informal) A person who makes a fuss, particularly about trivial things.


fusspot

en-verb

fusspot (third-person singular simple present fusspots, present participle fusspotting, simple past and past participle fusspotted)

fusspots (present singular third-person)
fusspotting (participle present)
fusspotted (participle past)
fusspotted (past)

I hadn't realised then that fusspotting about small details of social disorder was an Australian obsession.

1999, Annie Caulfield, The Winners' Enclosure, page 67:

(informal, intransitive) To make a fuss, particularly about trivial things.