collywobbles

Probably from colic (“severe pains that grip the abdomen”) + wobble (“unsteady motion”). Alternatively, it has been suggested that the word derives from colly (“coal dust”) (in the sense of someone becoming ill from breathing in such dust), or that it is a corruption of cholera.

I don’t like walking through the forest at night. It gives me the collywobbles.

This business of getting Bill educated has just about given me the collywobbles. You wouldn't think to look at the boy, that he could possibly be such a tragic misfit in school.

1943, Mary Ruth Sandifer, American Lay Opinion of the Progressive School, Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, →OCLC, page 21

(by extension) Often preceded by the: anxiety, fear, uneasiness.

mahanpuru

(informal, chiefly humorous) anxiety, fear, uneasiness


rat race

Forget about the rat race / Let's do the Milkshake / Selling like a hotcake

1979, Robin Scott (lyrics and music), “Pop Muzik”

I was running away […] from my inability, although I am quite an attractive rat, to make headway in the rat-race.

1980 [1962], Ian Fleming, chapter 1, in The Spy Who Loved Me, page 3

Echoing Allen Ginsberg, he contends that the suburban setting of “Father Knows Best” is most accurately seen as America's “ludicrous breeding ground for the young meat who will be fed into its wars and rat races and inhuman conformities.”

1989 April 30, Martha Bayles, quoting David Marc, “Taking Sitcoms Seriously”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

(by extension) The busy, modern urban lifestyle itself, especially when seen as a competition for wealth or power.


nias

(obsolete, by extension) An unsophisticated person.


metron

From Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron). Doublet of meter, metre, and mether.


wash away

en-verb

wash away (third-person singular simple present washes away, present participle washing away, simple past and past participle washed away)

washes away (present singular third-person)
washing away (participle present)
washed away (participle past)
washed away (past)

This latest piece of information, if true, will wash away all doubt.

Why would this shared history be so easily washed away? In her introduction, Colley directed us away from the notion that nations were characterised by cultural and ethnic homogeneity – of “blood and soil” – and towards Benedict Anderson’s definition of a nation as an “imagined community”

2014 September 16, Ian Jack, “Is this the end of Britishness”, in The Guardian

(by extension, figurative) To eliminate.


melliferous

en-adj

melliferous (comparative more melliferous, superlative most melliferous)

more melliferous (comparative)
most melliferous (superlative)

/mɪˈlɪfəɹəs/

/məˈlɪfəɹəs/

PIE word
 *mélit
Learned borrowing from Latin mellifer (“honey-bearing, honey-producing, melliferous”) + English -ous (suffix forming adjectives denoting the presence of a quality, typically in abundance). Mellifer is derived from mel (“honey”) (plural form mella; ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mélit (“honey”)) + -fer (suffix meaning ‘bearing, bringing, carrying’).

lbor

The Hymenoptera belonging to the melliferous or honey-collecting division of the Aculeata, are known by the peculiar conformation of the hind feet, of which the first joint is compressed and extended into the form of a square plate, and provided on its inside with brush-like tufts; these organs are employed for the purpose of collecting and carrying the pollen of flowers, which is employed for the nourishment of the young.

1849, “Class VI.—Insects.”, in D[avid] M[eredith] Reese, editor, Elements of Zoology, or Natural History of Animals (Chambers’ Educational Course; no. VI), New York, N.Y.: A[lfred] S[mith] Barnes & Co. […], →OCLC, paragraph 574, page 346

It is stated that honey has been found in the galleries of certain exotic species of Ants, but it is doubtful whether they have not stolen it from some other animals. However this may be, the most perfect melliferous animals are the Bees.

1861, A[lfred] Moquin-Tandon, “Section IV. Animals or Animal Products Employed as Accessories in Medicine.”, in Robert Thomas Hulme, transl., Elements of Medical Zoology. […], London: H[ippolyte] Baillière, […], →OCLC, § X (Honey), page 196

[B]oth effective developmental beekeeping and population studies of honeybees are totally predicated on a knowledge of the natural distributions, relative population densities and carrying capacity of real or potential melliferous lands.

1998, H[oward] R[andall] Hepburn, S[arah] E[lizabeth] Radloff, “Populations: Forms of Measurement”, in Honeybees of Africa, Berlin; Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg: Springer, page 97


kano

Borrowed from Tagalog Kano, initial clipping of Amerikano, ultimately from Spanish americano (“male American”).

(Philippines, slang, by extension) A Western foreigner


near miss

In recent years there have been two fatalities and one near miss due to the inappropriate use of boom trucks.

2009 April 27, Mine Safety, Health Administration, Failure to Operate Boom Trucks Safely Using Proper Procedures

As in New York City’s Times Square seven months ago, hundreds of innocent bystanders might have been killed. Fortunately, the would-be terrorist was the only fatality.

2010 December 14, “Sweden's Near Miss”, in New York Times, p.A34

(by extension) A scenario which ends safely but might well have ended in disaster.

Dean Chance ... wasn't crying over his near miss of a no-hitter Monday night.

1962 September 11, “No Chance Tears After Near Miss”, in Lawrence Journal-World, Lawrence, Kansas, page 16

Italy know they cannot wallow in the disappointment of last week's agonising near miss against Ireland.

2011 February 11, Robert Kitson, “Six Nations 2011: Luke McLean happy to swap green and gold for blue”, in The Guardian, London

After several near misses, Van Persie finally reached three figures by turning in Walcott's cross before Jaaskelainen saved from Walcott when one-on-one.

2011 September 24, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 3 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC Sport

(by extension) An attempt which fails narrowly; a performance which falls just short of a certain benchmark.


gay

en-adj

gay (comparative gayer, superlative gayest)

gayer (comparative)
gayest (superlative)

→ Cantonese: 基 (gei¹)

→ Mandarin: 基 (jī)

→ Catalan: gai

→ Esperanto: geja

→ French: gay

→ German: gay

→ Greek: γκέι (gkéi)

→ Irish: aerach (calque)

→ Italian: gay

→ Japanese: ゲイ (gei)

→ Mandarin: gay (gèi)

desc

→ Portuguese: gay, guei (adapted spelling)

→ Romanian: gay

→ Spanish: gay

→ Telugu: గే (gē)

→ Thai: เกย์ (gee)

→ Turkish: gey

Brill Publishers
Gertrude Stein
gay (term)

From Middle English gay, from Old French gai (“joyful, laughing, merry”), usually thought to be a borrowing of Old Occitan gai (“impetuous, lively”), from Gothic *𐌲𐌰𐌷𐌴𐌹𐍃 (*gaheis, “impetuous”), merging with earlier Old French jai ("merry"; see jay), from Frankish *gāhi; both from Proto-Germanic *ganhuz, *ganhwaz (“sudden”). This is possibly derived from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰengʰ- (“to stride, step”), from *ǵʰēy- (“to go”), but Kroonen rejects this derivation and treats the Germanic word as having no known etymology.
cognates and sense derivation
Cognate with Dutch gauw (“fast, quickly”), Westphalian Low German gau, gai (“fast, quick”), German jäh (“abrupt, sudden”).
Anatoly Liberman, following Frank Chance and Harri Meier, believes Old French gai was instead a native development from Latin vagus (“wandering, inconstant, flighty”), with *[w] > [g] as in French gaine.
The sense of homosexual (first recorded no later than 1937 by Cary Grant in the film Bringing Up Baby, and possibly earlier in 1922 in the poem "Miss Furr and Miss Skeene" by Gertrude Stein) was shortened from earlier gay cat ("homosexual boy") in underworld and prison slang, itself first attested about 1935, but used earlier for a young tramp or hobo attached to an older one.
Pejorative usage is probably due to hostility towards homosexuality.
The sense of ‘upright’, used in reference to a dog’s tail, probably derives from the ‘happy’ sense of the word.

gay

homosexual — see also homosexual, lesbian

verwijfd

behaving in a way associated with females

In fact, as several letter writers to the New York Times pointed out in their response to the article, the disjuncture between these two popularized penguins shows how radically separated from each other are communities of gay people and communities of right-wing religious conservatives: if the Christian fundamentalists had looked up "gay penguins" or even "penguins" on the Internet, they would have encountered several gay penguin sites, including the story of Roy and Silo, the Central Park Zoo gay penguin couple about whom a children's book was written; the saga of the gay penguin community at a German zoo; and the campaign of Gay Penguin for President (whose slogan was "George W. Bush talks the talk, but Gay Penguin walks the walk.")

2010, Noėl Sturgeon, Environmentalism in Popular Culture: Gender, Race, Sexuality, and the Politics of the Natural, page 128

(of an animal, by extension) Tending to partner or mate with other individuals of the same sex.

In accordance with stereotypes of homosexual people:

(loosely, of appearance or behavior) Being in accordance with stereotypes of gay people, especially gay men.

This incident has become a source of much discussion, and the jury is still out on who is more gay: the guy who touched a dick or the guy who let a guy touch his dick.

a. 2005, Jason Christopher Hartley, “October 23, 2004: This Is My Weapon, This Is My Gerber”, in Just Another Soldier: A Year on the Ground in Iraq, HarperCollins, published 2005, page 25

(loosely, of a person, especially a man) Exhibiting appearance or behavior that accords with stereotypes of gay people, especially gay men.


grow out of

en-verb

grow out of (third-person singular simple present grows out of, present participle growing out of, simple past grew out of, past participle grown out of)

grows out of (present singular third-person)
growing out of (participle present)
grew out of (past)
grown out of (participle past)

Still, I see you mean well enough, and are merely suffering from the debilitating cheerfulness of youth. You will soon grow out of that.

2002, House of the Seven Gables - Page 37

(idiomatic, by extension) To become too mature for something.


duppy

duppy (third-person singular simple present duppies, present participle duppying, simple past and past participle duppied)

duppies (present singular third-person)
duppying (participle present)
duppied (participle past)
duppied (past)

Jamaica, circa 18th century. From Bube dupe (“ghost”) (compare Akan adɔpe).

2011, Kano, guest on Lethal Bizzle, "Pow 2011"
I duppied every rave.

(MLE, by extension, transitive) To excel in.


map out

map out (third-person singular simple present maps out, present participle mapping out, simple past and past participle mapped out)

maps out (present singular third-person)
mapping out (participle present)
mapped out (participle past)
mapped out (past)

(transitive, by extension) To organise a plan; to analyze a situation; to figure out a problem.


ride tall in the saddle

ride tall in the saddle (third-person singular simple present rides tall in the saddle, present participle riding tall in the saddle, simple past rode tall in the saddle, past participle ridden tall in the saddle)

rides tall in the saddle (present singular third-person)
riding tall in the saddle (participle present)
rode tall in the saddle (past)
ridden tall in the saddle (participle past)

His son noted Buckley had died "with his boots on, after a lifetime of riding pretty tall in the saddle."

2008 February 27, Conservative Author Buckley Dead at 82, Associated Press

(idiomatic, by extension) To act or conduct oneself in a manner that is imposing, impressive, resolute, or manly.


chicken-or-egg question

en-noun

chicken-or-egg question (plural chicken-or-egg questions)

(by extension) A question to decide which of two interdependent things happened first.

مُعْضِلَة الدَجَاجَةِ وَالبَيْضَةِ

a question to decide which of two interdependent things happened first


wet work

Calque of Russian мо́крое де́ло (mókroje délo).

clq

мо́крое де́ло

He had also done a lot of Louis Deems' wet work, especially when it came to intimidating juries.

2009, Dana Stabenow, Whisper to the Blood, page 132

(by extension) Work within a gang or organization that involves killing or attacking people, for assassination or intimidation.


war widow

(by extension) A woman whose spouse has been killed in any conflict.

oorlogsweduwe

woman whose spouse has been killed in conflict


dead letter

I have thought proper to premise thus much, lest the incredible tale I have to tell should be considered rather the raving of a crude imagination, than the positive experience of a mind to which the reveries of fancy have been a dead letter and a nullity.

1833, Edgar Allan Poe, MS. Found in a Bottle

(by extension) Anything that has lost its authority or influence despite still being in existence or formally in force.


supercentenarian

From super- (“beyond, more than”) + centenarian (“100-year old”), q.v.

prefix

(loosely) Synonym of centenarian: a person more than 100 years old.


three Rs

From the initial consonant in the pronunciation of reading, (w)riting, (a)rithmetic (aphetically), 1820s.

Chapter 11: The Big C and the Three Rs: Chores, Relaxation, Recreation, and Rebellion

2002, Barbara Coloroso, Kids are Worth It!: Giving Your Child the Gift of Inner Discipline

(by extension) The basic precepts of any subject matter.

(sustainability) Reduce, reuse and recycle.


data point

Each time a language was recognised, a data point was recorded, and attention was switched to collecting the next data point.

2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 4

Test scores are just one imperfect data point, and none of this is to suggest Seattle schools don’t have problems. These scores still show a decline, and more than 3,000 students have left.

2022 February 12, Danny Westneat, “The reason voters see past the terrible headlines with Seattle schools”, in The Seattle Times

I think the third data point is inaccurate. Let's measure it again.

(by extension) The datum that the mark represents; a single piece of information.


Anthropocene

From a combination of anthropo- + -cene modeled on Holocene, Pleistocene, and similar. First attested in the 1960s in the translations of Russian-language scientific articles, possibly with a different meaning. Supposedly coined independently in the 1980s by American biologist Eugene Stoermer and later popularized by Dutch atmospheric chemist Paul J. Crutzen in 2000.

Holonyms: Holocene (current epoch), Quaternary (current period)

en:era of human impact on environment, loosely

(loosely, informal) The era of human impact on the environment, irrespective of its nomenclatural status as a geological event or epoch; especially, the era of large impact (i.e., on industrial and postindustrial scale).


glycerophosphoethanolamine

(by extension) Its fatty acid derivatives, the phosphatidylethanolamines (cephalin)


glycerophosphocholine

(by extension) Its fatty acid derivatives, the phosphatidylcholines (lecithin)


phosphocholine

(by extension) The fatty acid esters of this compound; lecithin


phosphoethanolamine

(by extension) The fatty acid ester of this compound; cephalin


kick up

en-verb

kick up (third-person singular simple present kicks up, present participle kicking up, simple past and past participle kicked up)

kicks up (present singular third-person)
kicking up (participle present)
kicked up (participle past)
kicked up (past)

Coordinate term: jack up

The rent has been kicked up again.

When Brazil triumphed over Italy in the final, it kicked up the price of Brazilian bonds.

1998, Paul Stiles, Riding the bull: my year in the madness at Merrill Lynch, page 200

Instead, when speaking the truth, rather than getting kicked out of town or worse, getting strung up with a rope in the South, here in Boston and the North, generally they got back at troublemakers by taking your token job, kicking up the rent, and for serious punishment, they'd agree with you and the ideas you were mouthing then as quickly as possible help you get back to the South so they could see how long you'd last.

2010, Gary Lee Falls, Eras Way Answers, page 124

(informal, figuratively, by extension, transitive, US) To raise, to increase (a price).


business end

There is even an example of convergent evolution at a molecular level in two enzymes, one from soil bacteria and the other from man, which have exactly the same patterns of amino acids at the "business ends."

1973, Lyall Watson, Supernature, page iii. 102

On this day, with expectation rising and the unmistakable feeling around this sweeping Samara Stadium that the World Cup is really reaching the business end, England delivered.

2018 July 7, Phil McNulty, “Sweden 0-2 England”, in BBC Sport

(idiomatic, by extension) The part of anything that is most important and that produces the significant result.


journaling

en-noun

journaling (countable and uncountable, plural journalings)

(computing, by extension) The change log of the file system or database.


common denominator

common denominator (plural common denominators)

(by extension, figurative) A trait or attribute that is shared by all members of some category.


one-man band

Near-synonym: one-man army

The corporation he will someday inherit—growing, churning—won't work as a one-man band.

2007 December 9, Peter Preston, “Challenges for the rising son”, in The Observer, UK

It goes on to argue that the Reform UK party is a “one-man band which at best can win only a handful of MPs”, while the Liberal Democrats are dismissed as “a joke”.

2024 July 3, Alexandra Topping, Jim Waterson, Tom Ambrose, “The Sun backs Labour on eve of election as Times also offers cautious support”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

(idiomatic, by extension) An organisation or business that is effectively run by only one person.

一腳踢

organisation or business run by one person


Anfield

Possibly from Middle English hange + feld, field (see field).

(soccer, by extension) Liverpool Football club itself.


Mc-

Mc- + car → McCar

Mc- + church → McChurch

Mc- + job → McJob

Mc- + mansion → McMansion

Sesame Street is "McEducation." Like things served by the golden arches, Sesame Street has at once elevated the dregs and lowered the quality to mediocrity

1983 Wallace Marx, "It's Not How Long You Make It," New York Magazine, Vol. 16, No. 50 (19 Dec 1983), p11

Two years of hard work wiped out by one of your 2 minute McSessions!

1995 Christopher Lloyd, Linda Morris & Vic Rauseo, "Dark Victory," Frasier, Season 2, Episode 24 (aired 23rd May 1995), spoken by Niles Crane (played by David Hyde Pierce)

Some of the techniques have been imported from the United States, but Britain's tight political and media village is now the European market leader in this kind of McPolitics.

2003, Anthony Wright, British politics: a very short introduction, Oxford University Press, page 35

(by extension, derogatory) Indicating a lack of depth or worth, by association with McDonald's.

Mc- + nuke → McNuke

(by extension, derogatory, humorous) Indicating an increase in availability or an increase in consumerism causing items to be more readily available.


on the make

From make (“companion, spouse, mate”), related to match (“counterpart, partner”).

In a city where everybody was "hustling," everybody, as they phrased it, "on the make," why should anyone take a second glance at Peter Gudge?

1920, Upton Sinclair, chapter 1, in 100%: The Story of a Patriot

(informal, by extension) Actively seeking an opportunity for self-advancement; eager to ingratiate oneself to others in order to secure some advantage.


synergist

(chemistry, by extension) A chemical compound that increases the chemical activity of another compound when used with it.


vocabulary word

vocabulary word (plural vocabulary words)

They are — here's a new vocabulary word — anadromous, which means that when it's time for them to spawn, they return to the fresh water where they were born.

2013 February 27, Bonny Wolf, “The Shad Are Running”, in National Public Radio

2016 January 29, Necco Ceresani, "You Are Ready for Continuous Delivery, Take the Leap" XebiaLabs
Most people call this Continuous Integration, but like DevOps, it is just a vocabulary word for working together, and making sure everything works together.giphy (3)

Although I have on occasion picked up a vocabulary word in years of reading Will’s columns (he may be the only person I read who regularly slips in the word “condign,” an adjective with which I was previously unfamiliar), ten-dollar words are not his norm.

2019 July 30, Kyle Smith, “The Impossible Elegance of George Will”, in National Review

(informal, by extension, US) A newly learned word; a sophisticated or pretentious word


rag the puck

en-verb

rag the puck (third-person singular simple present rags the puck, present participle ragging the puck, simple past and past participle ragged the puck)

rags the puck (present singular third-person)
ragging the puck (participle present)
ragged the puck (participle past)
ragged the puck (past)

You're having a brutal year, with sales of Hyundais in Canada down nearly 20 per cent. Are you just trying to rag the puck and kill time until the new Sonatas arrive?

2004 September 30, Michael Vaughan, “Five Questions for President, CEO Hyundai Canada”, in Globe and Mail, Toronto, retrieved 2008-05-12

We're kind of running the clock here and there's a question as to whether the government's ragging the puck. There's absolutely no reason why we can't get an agreement. I'm optimistic we can, but it's getting a bit late.

2010 June 12, Michael Ignatieff, “Harper may be ‘ragging the puck’ on detainee records: Ignatieff”, in Globe and Mail, Toronto, retrieved 2010-06-12

(chiefly Canada, by extension) To proceed slowly in order to use up time; to stall for time.


stickhandle

stickhandle (third-person singular simple present stickhandles, present participle stickhandling, simple past and past participle stickhandled)

stickhandles (present singular third-person)
stickhandling (participle present)
stickhandled (participle past)
stickhandled (past)

He has ducked questions in Parliament on everything from Afghan detainees to Radarsat 2, leaving them to be stickhandled by other ministers.

2008, "Editorial: Hillier goes, not Bernier, Toronto Star, 16 Apr. (retrieved 13 May 2008)

Obama, on the other hand, stickhandled his preacher problem and retained his poise and dignity.

2008 May 8, Diane Francis, “Obama vs McCain. Finally”, in National Post, Canada, retrieved 2008-05-13

(chiefly Canada, by extension) To deal capably and swiftly with a situation, especially in a manner which deflects potential problems.


valley girl

From Valley, short for San Fernando Valley. Popularized by the Frank/Moon Zappa song Valley Girl (1982).

Like the area in California that Miss Zappa has immortalized, it is a well-to-do, upper-middle-class community with enough boutiques, clothing shops, shoe shops, fur shops, jewelry shops and chocolatiers to fill several hours a week in the life of those most conspicuous of consumers, the Valley Girls of Long Island, who are sometimes referred to simply as Island Vals.

1982 September 15, Ron Alexander, “They're Clothes Crazy, Fer Sure; Valley Girls aren't just in California”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

(by extension, often derogatory) Any girl perceived to act or speak like a stereotypical valley girl.


talkback

en-noun

talkback (countable and uncountable, plural talkbacks)

(by extension) Communication from members of the public to the makers of a broadcast transmission while it is happening.


on-hook

(by extension) Describing the idle state of a subscriber or PBX user loop


man on the Clapham omnibus

man on the Clapham omnibus (plural (rare) men on the Clapham omnibus)

men on the Clapham omnibus (plural rare)

First put to legal use in a reported judgement by Sir Richard Henn Collins MR in the 1903 English Court of Appeal libel case, McQuire v. Western Morning News, who attributed it to Lord Bowen.

(UK, by extension) Any ordinary person; everyman.


rickroll

en-verb

rickroll (third-person singular simple present rickrolls, present participle rickrolling, simple past and past participle rickrolled)

rickrolls (present singular third-person)
rickrolling (participle present)
rickrolled (participle past)
rickrolled (past)

4chan
Grand Theft Auto IV
Never Gonna Give You Up
Rick Astley
YouTube

The verb is a blend of Rick + duckroll, combining the name of the British pop singer and songwriter Rick Astley (born 1966) with a reference to the duckroll prank on the website 4chan, in which users tricked into clicking on a hyperlink were led to an image of a duck on wheels. The word was coined by the American YouTuber Shawn Cotter (born 1987) who, under the handle “cotter548”, uploaded the music video of Astley’s song “Never Gonna Give You Up” (1987) to the online video-sharing service YouTube and then posted messages on 4chan on May 15, 2007 ostensibly with links to a trailer for the forthcoming game Grand Theft Auto IV. People who clicked on the links instead saw the Astley video with the caption “You just got Rickroll’d” scrolling across the screen. The noun is derived from the verb.

coinage

The DJ rickrolled the whole audience by suddenly playing Rick Astley’s hit song.

With a single tap on its screen, the device can take over any one of the millions of televisions connected to a Google Chromecast digital media player that happens to be within Wi-Fi range and force it to play Astley's canonical “Never Gonna Give You Up” music video—or any other equally annoying or embarrassing YouTube clip of the prankster’s choosing. […] But [Dan] Petro nonetheless imagines a rickmote-wielding hacker moving slowly through around a dense residential area and wirelessly rickrolling one hapless Chromecast owner after another.

2014 July 16, Andy Greenberg, “Rickroll Innocent Televisions With This Google Chromecast Hack”, in Wired, archived from the original on 2022-11-27

In 2008, Astley proved he was a good sport about the joke, interrupting a song on the float for "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" to Rickroll the parade.

2014 November 26, Tim Donnelly, “10 historic moments from Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade”, in New York Post, New York, N.Y.: News Corp, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-05-19

She paused, blinked, then looked at me. "Did you Rick-Roll me?"

2017 April, Chloe Neill, “Scales of Justice”, in Blade Bound (A Chicagoland Vampires Novel; 13), New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, page 286

He turned on the radio. An oldies station from Phoenix was in the middle of playing Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”. / “Oh my God!” Harlowe screamed and laughed. “Did Phoenix just ‘Rick Roll’ us?”

2020, Lowen Wuulph, “Roadtrip [12-28 & 29-2006]”, in The Dirac Effect, Pittsburgh, Pa.: Dorrance Publishing Company, page 200

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has "Rickrolled" an audience, all in the name of climate activism. Thunberg danced to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" on Saturday, in front of a crowd at Climate Live, a youth-led concert for climate action.

2021 October 18, Amy Woodyatt, “Greta Thunberg ‘Rickrolls’ climate concert with crazy dance moves”, in CNN, archived from the original on 2022-10-17

To surprise or trick (someone) into hearing this song.

She inserted the lyrics of “Never Gonna Give You Up” into her speech so casually that most listeners didn’t even realize they’d been rickrolled.

For their latest hack, students decided to RickRoll the Dome in the nerdiest way possible—by wrapping the first eight notes of the now infamous pop song around it's exterior.

2009 September 14, Brett Israel, “Never Gonna Give You Up: MIT Gets RickRolled”, in Discover: Science for the Curious, Waukesha, Wis.: Kalmbach Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-27

Yesterday, Korva pointed to an amusing video of lawmakers Rickrolling the Oregon State House. […] So what Oregon lawmakers did was include snippets of the song's lyrics into their speeches on the House floor and then stich it together to make the tune.

2011 April 13, Eyder Peralta, “Rickrolled: Or How One Politician Overcame Partisan Divide to Pull a Prank”, in All Things Considered, NPR, archived from the original on 2022-11-27

Sairam Gudiseva’s boast on Twitter that he had ‘Rick Rolled my physics teacher …’', posting an accompanying photograph of his essay with the verse from the 1987 hit ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ written with the first word on every line.

2014 January 17, Tom Gardner, “Rickrolled: Student pranks his physics teacher by inserting lyrics to Rick Astley’s ‘Never Going to Give You Up’ into paper on quantum mechanics”, in Daily Mail, London: DMG Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-27

Specifically, one passage from [Melania] Trump's inspiring address bears a striking resemblance to Astley's song, which had led to accusations that the Trump campaign may be "Rick-rolling" the electorate.

2016 July 19, Randall Roberts, “Melania Trump’s RNC speech provokes claims of plagiarism and, maybe worse, Rickrolling”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-27

To cause (someone) to unexpectedly engage with this song through an indirect method, such as through steganography, sheet music, or by inserting the lyrics into an unrelated context.


usual suspects

The phrase was commonly used in New York in the 1930s, by both criminals and law enforcement, often with regard to baseless arrests. The phrase was popularized more broadly by its appearance in the 1942 film Casablanca, especially since the 1990s.

I think the eco-utopian picture … is an unlikely outcome. I generally avoid over-population arguments. But there’s no question we’re in population overshoot. The catch is we’re not going to do anything about it. There will be no policy. The usual suspects: starvation, war, disease, will drive the population down. There’s little more to say about that really, and it’s certainly an unappetizing discussion, but it’s probably the truth. In any case, we’re in overshoot and we face vast resource scarcities. That’s it. The “usual suspects” are already doing their thing as worldwide food prices go up and peoples on the margin begin to suffer and starve.

2011 May 22, James Howard Kunstler, “Entropy Made Visible”, in Terrain

And yet a quiet campaign is in the works to secure landmark protection for the 46-story limestone and glass tower. It is not being led by the usual suspects, like preservationists, community groups or politicians.

2014 September 29, Matt A.V. Chaban, “A Bid to Make the Park Lane Hotel a Landmark, but Not by the Usual Suspects”, in New York Times

It was - to be only a little bit unfair - all the usual suspects at the Paris demo. Trotskyite students chanting against the patriarchy; anarchists; grizzled veterans of '68; plenty of pensioners; theatre-workers. In other words the regular left-wing alphabetti-spaghetti.

2016 March 9, Hugh Schofield, “France unions and youths protest against labour reforms”, in BBC News

(by extension, informal) The people or things that would be routinely expected to appear in a particular context.

toujours les mêmes

people or things that would be expected to appear


jank

Ostensibly a back-formation from janky (“shoddy, poor quality”).

back-form

(video games, slang) Game mechanics of unconventional or flawed design or implementation, and the experience of such mechanics, as to ruin or disrupt play, or break immersion; e.g. bugs and glitches.

(by extension) A game, or games, with such mechanics.


scenester

This is a guide to actually understanding that universe, whether you simply want to sound literate at a dinner party, know the difference between a bitcoin maxi and an NFT scenester, angle for a promotion by showing off more tech fluency than your boss, or leave your PR job to become memer-in-chief at a new coin exchange.

2021 November 30, Sara Harrison, “A Normie’s Guide to Becoming a Crypto Person: How to (cautiously and skeptically) fall down the rabbit hole”, in New York Magazine

(by extension) A person who associates themselves with a particular trending or fashionable cultural scene.


homochiral

(chemistry, by extension, nonstandard) Enantiopure.


on sight

He dismissed the idea on sight.

(by extension) Immediately something has come to one's attention.


out-of-band

(telecommunications, by extension) Relating to communication on a different channel, or by a different method, from that of the primary communication channel.

kaistan ulkopuolinen

telecommunications: on a different channel, or by a different method


want-away

en-adj

want-away (comparative more want-away, superlative most want-away)

more want-away (comparative)
most want-away (superlative)

* from verb phrase "to want away"; from want + away

(by extension, of any person or organisation) seeking to move its workplace to another location


free rider

The store failed because all of the manager's friends were free riders who drove paying customers away.

(by extension) Someone who obtains goods or services legally without paying.


town square

In Saudi Arabia, where a relatively closed culture leaves citizens few public forums to discuss news and politics, Twitter has become a kind of town square, the place where citizens meet to swap information and debate the latest issues.

2019 November 7, Ben Hubbard, “Why Spy on Twitter? For Saudi Arabia, It’s the Town Square”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Mr. Musk has frequently expressed concern that Twitter’s content moderators go too far and intervene too much on the platform, which he sees as the internet’s “de facto town square.”

2022 April 25, Melina Delkic, quoting Elon Musk, “4 ways Twitter could change under Elon Musk.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Mr. Musk went on to say that the reason he was buying Twitter was “because it is important to the future of the civilization to have a common digital town square,” where a “wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner without resorting to violence.”

2022 October 27, Lauren Hirsch, quoting Elon Musk, “Elon Musk Reaches Out to Advertisers Ahead of Deadline for Twitter Deal”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

(by extension) An online space or platform which serves a similar function.


hit one out of the ballpark

en-verb

hit one out of the ballpark (third-person singular simple present hits one out of the ballpark, present participle hitting one out of the ballpark, simple past and past participle hit one out of the ballpark)

hits one out of the ballpark (present singular third-person)
hitting one out of the ballpark (participle present)
hit one out of the ballpark (participle past)
hit one out of the ballpark (past)

The Canada Institute, part of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, has hit one out of the ballpark with its Montreal fundraiser.

2007 September 18, Patricia Best, “Elite dig deep for tribute dinner”, in Globe and Mail, Toronto, retrieved 2008-06-29

(idiomatic, by extension) To produce a spectacular achievement.


flat-earther

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

2008, Bob Sweere, "Voice of the Day: Global warming? Yes," News-Leader.com (Missouri), 16 Jun. (retrieved 1 July 2008),
Global warming is settled, unless you are a flat earther or an energy company apologist.

People who think the fat acceptance movement is healthy are the flat-earthers of health.

(figuratively, by extension, derogatory) A person who believes or advocates an outlandish, discredited theory; a person who refuses to acknowledge the truth despite overwhelming evidence.


price tag

The new sports car comes with a hefty price tag.

Unsurprisingly, there's a hefty price tag attached to a programme that could bring a network on which 80% of train miles operate under electric traction, and which features a 25% increase in the number of people living with[in] 5km (3.1 miles) of a railway station.

2023 September 6, Philip Haigh, “£30 billion plan to transform the rail network in Ireland”, in RAIL, number 991, page 24

(by extension) The price at which something is offered for sale.


not a pretty sight

Her lover, cheek by jowl with Maria, at the head of that army of Portuguese ragamuffins, was not a pretty sight.

1909, Jack London, chapter 35, in Martin Eden

The Tariff Bill was rounded into shape for final passage by the House last week. It was not a pretty sight for soft-hearted political theorists.

1929 June 23, “Impelled to Passage”, in Time

They showed little remorse in using this power to its full extent, against each other, against smaller producers and against the laboring poor, including strong-arm tactics of no legality. The result was not a pretty sight.

2002, Simon Szreter, “The State of Social Capital”, in Theory and Society, volume 31, number 5, page 597

(idiomatic, by extension) Something disappointing, disquieting, disreputable, or otherwise unworthy of admiration.


racing certainty

en-noun

racing certainty (plural racing certainties)

(by extension) Anything considered certain to happen; a sure thing


Machiavellianism

Machiavellianism (countable and uncountable, plural Machiavellianisms)

(by extension) Any ruthless, duplicitous behavior.


roached

From the noun roach (“curve, edge of a sail”).

Andrew Jackson, with that long head of his and that unroached forelock, looked a good deal like a neglected horse in the face.

1916 March 25, Irvin S. Cobb, “"Unaccustomed as I am—"”, in Saturday Evening Post

Riley Caldwell, the young printer, rushed past her out of the shop, his roached hair like an Algonquin's standing high above his narrow forehead,

1921, George Washington Ogden, Trail's End

(by extension) Of hair: cut or styled in such a way that it stands straight up.


cycler

If we had more than one cycler then the length of time between the outbound and inbound journeys could be reduced to a few months.

(astronautics, by extension) A, usually man-made, object that follows such an orbit.


in extremis

The purpose, of course, was to find out if the prisoner, in extremis, broke down and wrote to a family in Israel.

2001 [1990], Robert Fisk, Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War, Oxford University Press, page 410

This book sets out to look at what we have termed 'social work in extremis'. It is an attempt to bring together a number of case studies that look at social work responses in 'extreme' or crisis situations.

2011, Michael Lavalette, Vasilios Ioakimidis, Social Work in Extremis: Lessons for Social Work Internationally, Policy Press, page 1

There was a reason we would call up the Reserves only in extremis.

2016 February 9, Christopher Holshek, Travels with Harley: Journeys in Search of Personal and National Identity, Inkshares

(by extension) In desperate circumstances.


outstay one's welcome

en-verb

outstay one's welcome (third-person singular simple present outstays one's welcome, present participle outstaying one's welcome, simple past and past participle outstayed one's welcome)

outstays one's welcome (present singular third-person)
outstaying one's welcome (participle present)
outstayed one's welcome (participle past)
outstayed one's welcome (past)

“Do you often go looking for mice in other people's rooms?” “I wouldn't say often. Just when the spirit moves me, don't you know?” “I see. Well...” When people say “Well” to you like that, it usually means that they think you are outstaying your welcome and that the time has come to call it a day. She felt, I could see, that Woosters were not required in her son's sleeping apartment [...]

1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter VIII

(by extension) To become an unwelcome person because of embarrassing or antisocial behaviour.


dimp

(UK, colloquial, by extension) The butt end of a cigarette, before it has been completely smoked; a half-smoked cigarette.


spuddle

spuddle (third-person singular simple present spuddles, present participle spuddling, simple past and past participle spuddled)

spuddles (present singular third-person)
spuddling (participle present)
spuddled (participle past)
spuddled (past)

Possibly from the Middle English term for a short knife, by extension, leading to the shallow plow, and from there to other more metaphoric meanings. Related to spud.

Instead of an "occasional gardener" to trim up the walks, and to hoe, your wife will be as happy as a queen, and your daughters as princesses, to spuddle about now and then, and have little flower gardens, and herb beds.

1829 August 15, William Cobbett, “To the Farmers of England, On the Causes of their present Distress, and on the Remedies for the same.”, in Cobbett's Weekly Political Register, volume 67, page 207

Hee grubs and spuddles for his prey in muddy holes and obscure cauernes, my Mufe ferrits base debaushed wretches in their swinish dens.

1869, John Taylor, The Works of John Taylor, the Water-poet

Leviathan fouls and spuddles again my possessions and my father's house

1993, Wilfredo Pascua Sanchez, “Gethsemane”, in Luis Francia, editor, Brown River, White Ocean, page 247

And they say that in the very place where the child spuddled with his feet, the water flowed out.

2001, Daniel J. Vitkus, Nabil I. Matar, Piracy, Slavery, and Redemption, page 290

Molehills had to be spuddled.

2020, Carey McIntosh, Semantics and Cultural Change in the British Enlightenment, page 31

(by extension, chiefly dialect) To shallowly dig or stir up in an unsystematic manner.


warp speed

Wow, you can cycle at warp speed!

(by extension, informal) Any very fast speed.


five-finger exercise

en-noun

five-finger exercise (plural five-finger exercises)

Batman Begins, the 2005 film that launched Nolan's series, was a mere five-finger exercise. This is the full symphony.

2008 July 9, Richard Corliss, “Batman Is Back—TIME Reviews The Dark Knight”, in Time

(figuratively, by extension) An activity which is undertaken for the purpose of skill development.


full-court press

full-court press (plural full-court presses)

The White House has been engaged in a full court press to prevent other Republican senators from voting for any one of these amendments.

2007 July 10, Jay Newton-Small, “Can Bush Save the Surge?”, in Time

(figuratively, by extension) A thorough, collaborative effort to overcome or constrain another person or group, especially a rival or opponent.


doline

From a Slavic (most likely Russian or Slovene) word dolina ("valley"), perhaps via German Doline.


bump and grind

bump and grind (countable and uncountable, plural bump and grinds)

"There's inevitably a bump and grind when someone new comes into an established organization," says former senior adviser Rahm Emanuel.

1998 November 19, Lloyd Grove, John Harris, “Crisis Quarterback: Gregory Craig Is Calling the Plays On Clinton's Team”, in Washington Post, retrieved 2008-08-07, page D01

The typical bump and grind of short-track racing at Bristol Motor Speedway met with the panicked push of the final races of the Nascar Nextel Cup.

2005 August 29, Viv Bernstein, “Victory Gives Kenseth a Shot at the Chase”, in New York Times, retrieved 2008-08-07

(by extension) A combination of movements resembling such a dance, as in road racing, whitewater kayaking, or exercising; any activity involving prolonged jarring or shaking.


rhizobium

(biology, by extension) Any diazotrophic bacterium that can fix nitrogen and form root nodules in legumes.


L-plate

He was also a poet on 'L' plates having published one very slim (to the point of anorexic) collection of verse.

2005, Kathy Lette, A Stitch in Time, page 17

(by extension, informal) The condition of being a novice or learner.


Copt

From French Copte, from قُبْط (qobṭ, “Copts”), from Coptic ⲅⲩⲡⲧⲓⲟⲥ (guptios, “Egyptian”), ⲕⲩⲡⲧⲁⲓⲟⲥ (kuptaios, “Egyptian”), from Late Ancient Greek Αἰγύπτιος (Aigúptios), from earlier Αἴγυπτος (Aíguptos), from Egyptian Hwt-t:O1-kA:Z1-p:t-H-A40 (ḥwt-kꜣ-ptḥ, “Egypt; temple of Ptah's ka”). Doublet of Gypsy. More at Egypt.

der

(loosely) Any Christian of Egyptian descent.


effigiate

en-verb

effigiate (third-person singular simple present effigiates, present participle effigiating, simple past and past participle effigiated)

effigiates (present singular third-person)
effigiating (participle present)
effigiated (participle past)
effigiated (past)

Latin
 effigiātus, past participle of effigiō (“to form”), from effigiēs. See effigy.

(transitive, by extension) To fashion; to adapt.


antinovel

(literature, by extension) Any style of writing that deviates from the norm of technical conventions used in writing literature.


camwhore

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

(by extension) A shameless or exhibitionistic webcam user.


at the high port

I have seen no more romantic figure than Stewart Carter, his head and shoulders wrapped in a flaming red head-scarf, moustaches at the high port, crouched fanatically over the steering-wheel of a stripped-down Land Rover.

Once, they disturbed a family of forest hog, which trotted off with tails at the high port; once a lone hyena, [...]

1986, Nicholas Best, Tennis and the Masai

We had just changed On another patrol Kinyua indicated that he could hear something in the undergrowth ahead. We had just changed places and I had assumed the lead position, when he thrust me to one side and stabbed with his shotgun a gigantic porcupine that was coming down the track at me with its bristles at the high port!

1996, Derek Peter Franklin, A Pied Cloak: Memoirs of a Colonial Police Officer (Special Branch)

Here he ran out of words, and drew himself up, beard at the high port, shaking his great head while he clasped my hand, and I meditated on the astonishing ease with which strong men of Victorian vintage could be buffaloed into incoherent embarrassment by the mere mention of feminine frailty.

2006, George MacDonald Fraser, Flashman on the March

(idiomatic, by extension) Sticking up; (of hair, etc) standing up at a marked angle.

We can all surely see, though, that there will be heads who will weep for joy at the challenges posed by LFM, which may yet provide for the apotheosis of those colleagues who want to see a full exercise book before issuing a new one. Calculators at the high port they will prowl their schools switching off lights, cutting pencils in half and pondering the cost-effectiveness of — as an ex-colonial head with whom I worked longed to do — deterring vandals by establishing a family of baboons in the school grounds.

1990, Gerald Haigh, “Nipscratting? No thanks”, in Lynn Davies, editor, Equity and efficiency: school management in an international context

Thomas Tring, emerging with violin in left hand and bow vertical at the high port in his right, looked about Clark's age, had a long head with thin untidy hair round a clear parting. His accompanist, two yards behind, was ruddy-faced with glasses [...]

1991, Stanley Middleton, Beginning to end

The warden had spotted them. Mouth open in a predatory snarl which showed a metal tooth which it was rumoured actually grew there, she advanced towards them, her note-book held before her like a buckler, her pencil at the high port. The men turned and looked at her. That was all. Just looked.

(idiomatic, by extension, of anything, not just a weapon) Held in front of the body, especially in an authoritative or aggressive way.

Eventually he went off, still bubbling with enthusiasm. When his motorbike was out of earshot I went to look for Smithy. He must have taken off smartly at the high port as soon as he saw Elmer but I ran him down in the end.

[...] So we thought we'd better hop our frames out of there at the high port.

1982, Roy Parsons, The summer book: a New Zealand miscellany

[...] inimitable drivers had taken it into their heads to leave at the high-port when the firing started.

1989, André Dennison, J. R. T. Wood, The war diaries of André Dennison

No sooner had the shot been fired than they took off at the high port, racing hell bent for leather right in our direction.

(idiomatic, slang, by extension) At once, quickly; unhesitatingly, vigorously.


battle cry

(by extension) A strong motto or purpose statement, especially in regards to winning a goal in sports, games or work.


cantico

From an south Eastern Algonquian language. Compare a Lenape gen'tke'n ("to sing, dance, etc.") as well as Powhatan kantokan (“dance”) and kantikanti (“dance and sing”).

It was almost like father and son meeting to adjust a little misunderstanding arising from the latter's canticoes.

But even the halt, the blind et al. would cut up canticoes and Smash gas fixtures unless they were properly chaperoned.

1919, Work with Boys - Volumes 19-20 -, page 56

The whale thought that blow between wind and water was foul, for he cut such infernal canticoes that we could not get on to him.

1951, Chester Scott Howland, Thar She Blows!, page 16

(by extension) An uproar; activity that is full of high spirits and violent action.


galactic year

(astronomy, by extension) The time taken for a celestial body to complete a quasi-orbit in a galaxy.


off one's game

Big Bertha, the crowd-pleasing sand tiger shark who survived an astonishing four decades at the New York Aquarium, has died. "She was off her game. She slowed down. She wasn't quite right," said Hans Walters, the animal department supervisor.

2008 April 2, Tracy Connor, "'Mellow' shark dies," Daily News (New York) (retrieved 9 Sep. 2008)

Adam found himself answering the viewer's questions while also trying to cook—which threw him off his game.

2008 July 28, Christopher Rocchio, “Aaron McCargo Jr. wins The Next Food Network Star's fourth season”, in Reality TV World, retrieved 2008-09-09

(idiomatic, by extension) Performing in any activity below one's usual level; behaving in an irregular, inept, or awkward manner; feeling unwell.


haymaker

From Middle English heymakere; equivalent to hay + maker.

The real potential haymaker for the industry is a proposal, now gaining support in Congress, that would tax the profits private equity reaps on selling companies not at the low cap gains rate, but at the regular income tax rate.

2007 June 18, Shawn Tully, “Private equity: End of the golden age?”, in CNNMoney.com, retrieved 2008-09-10

(figuratively, by extension) Any decisive blow, shock, or forceful action.


mind the store

mind the store (third-person singular simple present minds the store, present participle minding the store, simple past and past participle minded the store)

minds the store (present singular third-person)
minding the store (participle present)
minded the store (participle past)
minded the store (past)

The Administration and Congress have had to prove they are at least attempting to mind the store.

2005 Sept. 18, Daniel Eisenberg, "How to Spend (Almost) $1 Billion A Day," Time

(idiomatic, by extension) To take active responsibility for a group or process, especially within an organization.


standard fare

en-noun

standard fare (countable and uncountable, plural standard fares)

Anyone found travelling without a valid ticket will be issued with a standard fare of £100 which must be paid within 21 days. This charge will be reduced to £50 if paid within 14 days.

2011, “Standard Fare”, in Transport for Greater Manchester

(British, Ireland, countable, by extension) The price charged to passengers who travel without buying tickets in advance on certain public transport systems (especially British bus and tram systems) (compare penalty fare).

tarkastusmaksu

price charged to passengers who travel without valid tickets

More than any other man, slim, wiry Bob Olds made Flying Fortress a household phrase before Pearl Harbor. . . . Photogenic as a Hollywood ace, he and his B-17s became standard fare in newsreels.

What makes Lovett intriguing is a grasp of emotional conflict that goes far beyond Nashville's standard fare.

1986 February 9, Rodney Crowell, “Album Reviews: Lyle Lovett & His Large Band”, in Rolling Stone, retrieved 2008-09-18

The black keyboard bundled with the system is standard fare.

2008 August 29, Brain Neal, “Review: HP Compaq Presario SR5610F”, in PC Magazine, retrieved 2008-09-18

Echoing the rhapsodic prog-rock vibes of Pink Floyd circa ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’, the new track marks an ambitious step into uncharted territory for Coldplay, though not eschewing too far from the alt-rockers’ standard fare.

2021 July 23, Ellie Robinson, “Coldplay shoot for the stars with their cinematic new track ‘Coloratura’”, in NME

This is pretty standard fare in Silicon Valley—Steve Jobs didn’t invent the iPod, Elon Musk didn’t design the first Tesla—but there’s usually a moment when the “founder” comes up with some innovation or solution that transforms an idea into a gigantic, distinct, and scalable business.

2023 May 9, Jay Caspian Kang, “Tony Hsieh and the Emptiness of the Tech-Mogul Myth”, in The New Yorker

(uncountable, idiomatic, by extension) Something which is normal, routine, or unexceptional; something which is commonly provided or encountered.


four-by-four

(by extension) any four-wheel-drive vehicle.


bread and circuses

From Latin panem et circenses (literally “bread and circuses”), a reference to Satire 10 of the Roman poet Juvenal’s Satires (early 2nd century C.E.). The relevant passage states: “… nam qui dabat olim imperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se continet atque duas tantum res anxius optat, panem et circenses” (“[F]or that sovereign people that once gave away military command, consulships, legions, and every thing, now bridles its desires, and limits its anxious longings to two things only,—bread, and the games of the circus!”). Juvenal was commenting that the Roman people no longer cared for political involvement, and were satisfied with cheap food and entertainment provided by politicians.

nb...

with Notes, Chronological Tables, Arguments, &c. by the Rev. Lewis Evans, M.A. Late Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford. To which is Added the Metrical Version of Juvenal and Persius, by the Late William Gifford, Esq.

One thing which this study makes evident is that the Welfare State fantasy is usually conjured up by some scheming politician posing as a public benefactor and using "bread and circuses", paid for by the people's own money, to buy the support of the populace.

1950, Willford I[sbel] King, “The Something-for-nothing Deception”, in The Right Way to Provide Security against Illness and Old Age, [New York, N.Y.]: Committee for Constitutional Government, →OCLC, page 1

But is populism actually popular? Or is it simply sedative patronisation, bread and circuses devised by a cynical caste of free marketeers who presumptuously underestimate the collective intellect?

2009 April 30, Jonathan Meades, “Yesterday’s Tomorrow: Militant Modernism, Owen Hatherley, Zero Books, 146pp, £9.99 [book review]”, in New Statesman, London: New Statesman Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-09-21

At one rather telling point, [Jeremy] Hunt accused Boris [Johnson] of 'peddling optimism' by trying to guarantee we would definitely leave the EU on October 31. Boris's bread-and-circuses response – 'People want a bit of optimism, Jeremy!' – drew wild applause from the 200-odd crowd.

2019 July 10, Henry Deedes, “It felt like seeing the Head Boy debate the class clown”, in Daily Mail, London: DMG Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2019-07-17

(by extension) Grand spectacles staged or statements made to distract and pacify people.


hamster wheel

The overall mood of this volume is one of melancholy and loss, weary resignation to one's lot—trudging round and round on the rusty hamster wheel of life.

2002 June 28, Michiko Kakutani, “Books of the Times”, in New York Times, retrieved 2008-09-23

Before the current pandemic, the rail industry appeared to be trapped on an ever-accelerating hamster wheel, trying to keep up with customer demand and political expectation on an essentially historic system itself exposed to greater impacts of climate change.

2020 May 6, Prof. Andrew McNaughton, “Time to challenge some sacred philosophies of recent years”, in Rail, page 32

(figuratively, by extension) A monotonous, repetitive, unfulfilling activity, especially one in which no progress is achieved.

rat race

a monotonous, repetitive, unfulfilling activity


squirrel cage

The poor stuggle for riches, success, power; but those who achieve them die out. Life is, then a sort of squirrel cage or treadmill.

1944, B. R. McElderry Jr., “The Grapes of Wrath: In the Light of Modern Critical Theory”, in College English, volume 5, number 6, page 312

So maybe I wouldn't even call Kevin. . . . Or I could just see him socially. . . . Or I could . . . . Or, or, or. . . . I was still running around in this squirrel cage when the big gray poisonous cloud that usually covers New York materialized just off the right wing.

1986, Madison Smartt Bell, Straight Cut (2011 Open Road Media edition), (Google Preview)

(figuratively, by extension) A tedious, repetitive, unfulfilling activity or situation, especially one in which no progress is achieved.


roofie

From some pronunciations of Rohypnol, a brand name of flunitrazepam.

(slang, by extension) Any drug designed to make someone drowsy or disoriented; a date rape drug.


nether region

But the steward of those nether regions marked him, by the electric lamps, as a lurking passenger to be watched; and wondered who, at that depth in the ship, could be carrying valuables.

1918, Arthur Quiller-Couch, Foe-Farrell, ch. 12

(often pluralized, by extension) A place which is subterranean or enclosed beneath a surface, especially one which is dark, dank, or otherwise inhospitable.


patchwork quilt

en-noun

patchwork quilt (plural patchwork quilts)

Despite a patchwork quilt of aid that includes scholarships, loans and an on-campus job, Kenner's father, a train conductor, must now pay $6,000 out of pocket to send his daughter to school.

1989 September 25, Susan Tifft et al., “Sticker Shock at the Ivory Tower”, in Time

(figuratively, by extension) Something having a haphazard or disorganized structure; something composed of seemingly random parts.

hodgepodge

Something having a haphazard or disorganized structure or random composition


seropositivity

seropositivity (countable and uncountable, plural seropositivities)

From seropositive + -ity, or sero- + positivity.

At first, the prophylaxis budgeting efforts were triaged to the areas with the highest seropositivity.

(loosely, metonymically) Seropositivity prevalence rate: synonym of seroprevalence.


put the pedal to the metal

en-verb

put the pedal to the metal (third-person singular simple present puts the pedal to the metal, present participle putting the pedal to the metal, simple past and past participle put the pedal to the metal)

puts the pedal to the metal (present singular third-person)
putting the pedal to the metal (participle present)
put the pedal to the metal (participle past)
put the pedal to the metal (past)

There are times for all of us when we have to put the pedal to the metal. Businesspeople and students have deadlines. Parents have periods of time when they don't get breaks because their partners are unavailable or they have no partners.

2007, Donna Carter, 10 Smart Things Women Can Do to Build a Better Life, Harvest House Publishers, page 22


clacker

The last leg of one of our runs was Valencia to Madrid, a straight-line distance of about 93 nautical miles. A competition developed as to who could fly it in the least amount of time. For a couple of weeks, I held the record at 24 minutes, but then another captain did it in 23. One captain claimed he had done it in 22, but his flight engineer let it be known that the overspeed warning clacker had sounded during the flight. You could fly the leg however you wished, but if the overspeed warning—a distinctive loud clacking sound—went off, the run didn't count.

2020 February 3, Terry Liittschwager, “Talking of Flying”, in Terry Liittschwager's Officially Unofficial, Curiously Chaotic Website, archived from the original on 2021-02-21, Night Freight in Spain

(by extension) Any device that makes a clacking noise.


pay-to-play

Davis's pay-to-play reputation, demanding donations before he would consider policies or appointments favorable to the potential donors, was used against him.

2004, Larry N. Gerston, Terry Christensen, Recall!: California's Political Earthquake

(by extension, politics, of a politician or a party) Accepting donations in exchange for favors; corrupt.


third estate

(by extension) The commoners, collectively, in any society.


repot

repot (third-person singular simple present repots, present participle repotting, simple past and past participle repotted)

repots (present singular third-person)
repotting (participle present)
repotted (participle past)
repotted (past)

There's no limit to the number of times you can repot yourself. Every season offers opportunities for new growth, and what's fulfilling to you now may not answer your needs in a future stage of life.

2008, Diana Holman, Ginger Pape, Repotting

The impulse to repot yourself may be set in motion by a change in your life. This can be an event beyond your control, or it may be a happening over which you have some control.

2010, Mary Lou Dobbs, Repotting Yourself: Financial-Emotional-Spiritual Flow, page 5

One way to “pay attention to your life” is to “repot yourself.” American writer John Gardner pushed people to think about “repotting” themselves every 10 to 15 years, throwing themselves into challenges that extract hidden strengths.

2019, Michael Edmondson, Navigate the Chaos in 2020, page 130

(transitive, by extension) To give (oneself) new challenges or environments as a means of personal growth.


rear echelon

(military, by extension) The administrative and supply departments of an army.


three-line whip

en-noun

three-line whip (plural three-line whips)

From the triple underlining of very important votes on “the whip” — a document detailing upcoming business distributed weekly to British MPs by party managers.

I have to go shopping with the wife, I'm afraid. She's given me a three-line whip.

(by extension, humorous) An imperative order.


stick to one's guns

en-verb

stick to one's guns (third-person singular simple present sticks to one's guns, present participle sticking to one's guns, simple past and past participle stuck to one's guns)

sticks to one's guns (present singular third-person)
sticking to one's guns (participle present)
stuck to one's guns (participle past)
stuck to one's guns (past)

Ronald had stuck to his guns and refused me to the last.

1898, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Quiller-Couch, chapter 29, in St. Ives

"I intend to marry, of course," replied Tuppence. "That is, if"—she paused, knew a momentary longing to draw back, and then stuck to her guns bravely—"I can find some one rich enough to make it worth my while."

1922, Agatha Christie, chapter 15, in The Secret Adversary

The President . . . stuck to his guns on that, not repeating any of his recent admissions that there had been "miscalculations" in planning for the war.

2004 September 3, Mitch Frank, “Bush Finds His Agenda”, in Time, retrieved 2015-09-19

Sarri has been questioned for his decision to use Jorginho as the hub of his team while pushing Kante into a more advanced role out on the right - why have the player many regard as the finest holding midfield player in world football and not utilise him there?
Sarri has stuck to his guns and this was a game - and performance by Kante - that added significant weight to his argument.

2018 December 8, Phil McNulty, “Chelsesa 2 - 0 Manchester City”, in BBC Sport

(idiomatic, by extension) To maintain one’s position or viewpoint when faced with opposition.

pitää pintansa

to maintain one's viewpoint when faced with opposition


hey rube

Used since approximately 1935; from a shortening of the given name Reuben. It originated as a cry used by circus workers, possibly because of the connotations of the name Reuben as belonging to someone living in the rural USA.

(by extension) Any fight or conflict, especially a rowdy and informal one.


engagement ring

en-noun

engagement ring (plural engagement rings)

After about five minutes we dug up an old engagement ring.

2010, Donald L. Maly, Oasis of Hope, page 20

Wednesday: I found an engagement ring on the beach this morning, beautiful little thing, a diamond the shape of a teardrop and two clusters of tiny sapphires on either side.

(by extension) Any ring that has the appearance of a ring given as a promise to wed.


jaggery

jaggery (countable and uncountable, plural jaggeries)

→ French: jagré

desc

→ Japanese: ジャガリー (jagarī), ジャッガリー (jaggarī)

→ Scottish Gaelic: seagaraidh

PIE word
 *ḱorkeh₂
Borrowed from Indo-Portuguese jágara, jagra, from Malayalam ചക്കര (cakkara, “jaggery”) or Tamil சக்கரை (cakkarai), from Sanskrit शर्करा (śarkarā, “candied or ground sugar; (chiefly in the plural) grit, gravel, shingle; gravelly soil; pebble”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ (“boulder; gravel”). Doublet of sugar.

der

(by extension) A small-scale production plant that processes sugar cane to make sugar.


cutover

en-noun

cutover (countable and uncountable, plural cutovers)

(by extension) Any process of quickly replacing a machine so as to minimize downtime.


beat to a pulp

en-verb

beat to a pulp (third-person singular simple present beats to a pulp, present participle beating to a pulp, simple past beat to a pulp, past participle beaten to a pulp or beat to a pulp)

beats to a pulp (present singular third-person)
beating to a pulp (participle present)
beat to a pulp (past)
beaten to a pulp (participle past)
beat to a pulp (participle past)

(transitive, colloquial, loosely) To defeat severely in various, even non-contact, competitive sports.


fly by the seat of one's pants

fly<,,flew,flown> by the seat of one's pants

fly by the seat of one's pants (third-person singular simple present flies by the seat of one's pants, present participle flying by the seat of one's pants, simple past flew by the seat of one's pants, past participle flown by the seat of one's pants)

flies by the seat of one's pants (present singular third-person)
flying by the seat of one's pants (participle present)
flew by the seat of one's pants (past)
flown by the seat of one's pants (participle past)

en-au-fly by the seat of one's pants.ogg

“Unlike Obama and his methodical process, McCain was flying by the seat of his pants,” the authors observe.

2010 January 14, Jacob Heilbrunn, “Election Confidential”, in New York Times, retrieved 2011-06-25

(idiomatic, by extension) To use one's judgment, initiative, and perceptions as events unfold in order to improvise a course of action without a predetermined plan or without the desirable data inputs to decision making.


cry someone a river

cry someone a river (third-person singular simple present cries someone a river, present participle crying someone a river, simple past and past participle cried someone a river)

cries someone a river (present singular third-person)
crying someone a river (participle present)
cried someone a river (participle past)
cried someone a river (past)

Probably from the song Cry Me a River (1953).

Port Authority Transit should cry me a river. Before raising fares it should cut an unnecessary expense.

1968 October 3, A. B. Geraci, “Letter to Editor: PAT Should End Its Free Passes”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, retrieved 2008-10-20, page 16

(idiomatic, usually sarcastic, by extension) To try to obtain the sympathy of another person by complaining or sniveling.

kitistä

to try to obtain the sympathy of another person by complaining or sniveling


cooldown

(video games) The minimum length of time that the player needs to wait after using an ability or item before it can be used again.

(by extension) A particular ability with a powerful effect but long cooldown period, making it important to track when it was last used and when it can be used again.

(by extension) Any rest period between sessions of an activity or event.


live action

live action version of The Lion King

live action version of Sonic the Hedgehog

(often used attributively, by extension, proscribed) Photorealistic CGI; computer animation closely imitating real life.


go up in smoke

go up in smoke (third-person singular simple present goes up in smoke, present participle going up in smoke, simple past went up in smoke, past participle gone up in smoke)

goes up in smoke (present singular third-person)
going up in smoke (participle present)
went up in smoke (past)
gone up in smoke (participle past)

Near-synonym: evaporate

When the bank refused the credit, all our plans went up in smoke.

There's a gypsy down on Bleecker Street
I went in to see her as a kind of joke
And she lit a candle for my love luck
And eighteen bucks went up in smoke

(idiomatic, by extension) To be completely ruined, devastated, or reduced to nothingness.

вылете́ть в трубу́ pf (vyletétʹ v trubú, literally “go up the chimney”)

накры́ться ме́дным та́зом pf (nakrýtʹsja médnym tázom, literally “to be covered wit copper basin”)


bad ending

(Internet slang, sometimes humorous, by extension) The least optimal outcome or conclusion to a given situation, problem or event.


good ending

(Internet slang, sometimes humorous, by extension) The most optimal outcome or conclusion to a given situation, problem or event.


feature film

(by extension) Any film produced to be shown in cinemas before being released for home viewing.

speelfilm

film shown in cinemas before being released for home viewing


hard-wire

hard-wire (third-person singular simple present hard-wires, present participle hard-wiring, simple past and past participle hard-wired)

hard-wires (present singular third-person)
hard-wiring (participle present)
hard-wired (participle past)
hard-wired (past)

"And the mindset of a silo of rail engineers, and a silo of highway engineers, and a silo of bus experts, and a silo of active travel people, you're not going to integrate just because you put them in one organisation.
"You have to actively look at ways to cross-fertilise that thinking, to get multi-modal projects hard-wired in. And from our view, I see TfW as a behaviour change organisation.

2024 February 7, Lee Waters tells Conrad Landin, “A mission to improve transport for Wales”, in RAIL, number 1002, page 34

(psychology, by extension) To make a pattern of behaviour automatic.


patheticness

I […] don’t believe in God, which isn’t surprising given the patheticness of the male authority figures in my life.

2013, Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being, Canongate Books (2019), page 79

The state or quality of being pathetic.
(by extension) Contemptible inadequacy.

The state or quality of being pathetic.
Contemptible inadequacy.


troupial

French troupiale, from troupe (“troop”), so named because they live in flocks.

(loosely) Any bird of the American family Icteridae; an icterid.


bare-bottomed

en-adj

bare-bottomed (comparative more bare-bottomed, superlative most bare-bottomed)

more bare-bottomed (comparative)
most bare-bottomed (superlative)

(informal, by extension) Naked, starkers.


measure twice and cut once

Mr. Paz noted that since the onset of the credit crisis, eBay, like other companies, hasn’t been able to "measure twice and cut once."

2008 November 9, Hilary Johnson, “Mergers rattle bank relations”, in Financial Week, retrieved 2008-11-09

(figuratively, by extension) Plan and prepare in a careful, thorough manner before taking action.

dvakrát měř, jednou řež

plan and prepare in a careful, thorough manner before taking action. and act once precisely and properly.

семь раз отме́рь, оди́н отре́жь (semʹ raz otmérʹ, odín otréžʹ, literally “measure seven times, cut once”)


welcome mat

(figurative, by extension) Any sign or indication of welcome.


Walpurgis night

en-noun

Walpurgis night (plural Walpurgis nights)

Partial calque of German Walpurgisnacht.

(by extension) Any orgiastic or bacchanalian party.


hard up

en-adj

hard up (comparative more hard up, superlative most hard up)

more hard up (comparative)
most hard up (superlative)

Dating him? She must be hard up.


home field advantage

(by extension) The advantage anyone enjoys from familiar surroundings or circumstances.


fearnaught

(by extension) A warm garment, especially one made of this cloth.


cry the blues

en-verb

cry the blues (third-person singular simple present cries the blues, present participle crying the blues, simple past and past participle cried the blues)

cries the blues (present singular third-person)
crying the blues (participle present)
cried the blues (participle past)
cried the blues (past)

The average citizen gets an extreme emotional delight in ‘crying the blues’ to anyone who might lend an attentive ear.

1934 October 3, “Slang Declared Barometer Of Nation's State Of Mind”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, retrieved 2008-11-20, page 15

We have immense corporations that cry the blues all day long about how their pension costs are ruining them.

2006 July 9, Ben Stein, “Everybody's Business”, in New York Times, retrieved 2008-11-20

(idiomatic, by extension) To complain, especially in order to obtain sympathy for one's own purportedly sad situation.


backtrace

backtrace (third-person singular simple present backtraces, present participle backtracing, simple past and past participle backtraced)

backtraces (present singular third-person)
backtracing (participle present)
backtraced (participle past)
backtraced (past)

(by extension) To find the cause of something by examining past events


rice paper

en-noun

rice paper (usually uncountable, plural rice papers)

(loosely) Any similar paper made from a plant other than rice, such as bamboo or mulberry.


Tinseltown

(slang, by extension) The movie industry, as found in Hollywood, and Greater Los Angeles, CA, US

(slang, by extension) The film industry of the United States of America

(slang, by extension) The film industry in general


grey-haired

(by extension, figurative) old, wise, experienced.


geocorona

From geo- + corona. From being the luminous part of the atmosphere, the outermost region of Earth's atmosphere.

(meteorology, plasma physics, space physics, by extension) Analogs of the geocorona; Synonym of protonosphere

plasma physics; space physics; plasma physics; space physics


lie detection

(broadly) The use of any technique intended to detect deception.


tramontane

en-adj

tramontane (comparative more tramontane, superlative most tramontane)

more tramontane (comparative)
most tramontane (superlative)

From Old French tramontane, from Italian tramontana.


ride out

en-verb

ride out (third-person singular simple present rides out, present participle riding out, simple past rode out, past participle ridden out)

rides out (present singular third-person)
riding out (participle present)
rode out (past)
ridden out (participle past)

In deep underground basing, missiles are buried in tunnels in mountainsides where they are able to ride out a nuclear attack. Following the attack the missiles dig themselves out of the tunnels to the surface and launch themselves.

1989, Barbara Goss Levi, Mark Sakitt, The Future of Land Based-Strategic Missiles, page 174

Following chaos on Wall Street yesterday, and in which Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs became the latest US financial institutions to come under fire, the chancellor attempted to reassure the public that Britain could ride out the crisis.

2008 September 18, Graeme Wearden, quoting Alistair Darling, “Markets slide again but chancellor says Britain can ride out the crisis”, in The Guardian

“We have a chance to ride out this Omicron wave without shutting down our country once again,” Mr. Johnson said at an evening news conference […]

2022 January 4, Megan Specia, quoting Boris Johnson, “Britain can ‘ride out’ the Omicron wave without a strict lockdown, Boris Johnson says.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

(transitive, idiomatic, by extension) To tackle a difficult situation and survive; to survive through; to weather.


paintbox

Nolan visits the Quantel computer laboratory to experiment with its vast digital paintbox.

2015, Nancy Underhill, Sidney Nolan: A Life

(by extension) Computer hardware or software for creating or editing graphics.


pointillistic

en-adj

pointillistic (comparative more pointillistic, superlative most pointillistic)

more pointillistic (comparative)
most pointillistic (superlative)

From pointillist + -ic, from Pointillism.

Their songs are mercurial, exhilarating structures with angular, leaping vocal lines from David Longstreth, cooing female vocal harmonies and pointillistic guitar patterns that do with Congolese soukous what Steve Reich did with Ghanian drumming: analyze, formalize and layer on new, dizzying convolutions.

2008 December 12, Jon Pareles, “Hey, Kids! Care for a Little Minimalism With Your Dance Grooves?”, in The New York Times

(by extension) Having the minimalistic, analytical character associated with pointillism.


match made in hell

en-noun

match made in hell (plural matches made in hell)

Two Agencies. Same team. Different objectives. It was a match made in hell, but policy makers back in Washington expected everyone to sing kumbaya for the good of the country.

2021, Taylor Moore, Down Range, HarperCollins

(by extension) A very unsuccessful or conflicting combination of two people or things.


match made in heaven

match made in heaven (plural matches made in heaven)

The pear essence combined with the chocolate is a match made in heaven.

2002, Nick Stellino, “Pere al Cioccolatto”, in Nick Stellino's Glorious Italian Cooking, Penguin, page 180

(by extension) A very successful combination of two people or things.


erf

From Middle English erve, erfe, from Old English yrfe, ierfe (“heritage, bequest, inheritance, property, inherited property, property that passes to an heir, cattle, livestock”), from Proto-West Germanic *arbī, from Proto-Germanic *arbiją (“heritage”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃erbʰ- (“to change ownership”) (whence also *h₃órbʰos (“orphan”)).
Cognate with Dutch erf (“inheritance, patrimony, ground, courtyard”), German Erbe (“heritage, legacy, inheritance”), Danish arv (“heritage, inheritance”), Swedish arv (“heritage, inheritance”), Gothic 𐌰𐍂𐌱𐌹 (arbi, “inheritance”), Latin orbus (“orphan”), Ancient Greek ὀρφανός (orphanós, “orphan”), Old English ierfa (“heir”). Related to orf and odal and athel.


clear round

(by extension) The completion of a series of tasks without error.


bird strike

(transport, by extension) Any collision between a bird and a vehicle.


chokehold

Your country has a chokehold on our economy.

With the music industry releasing their chokehold on these television talent shows, it too is looking to other sources like social media – Wade calls TikTok "one giant talent show" – to find new talent rather than primetime TV.

2021 September 15, Laura Martin, “How talent shows became TV's most bizarre programmes”, in BBC

(by extension) A strong and powerful grasp on something


one-two punch

Fish + Broccoli
The benefit: You can sock it to cancer with this one-two punch.

2007 November, Elizabeth Drake, “Combine and conquer: Use these winning food pairings to protect your health”, in Men's Health, volume 22, number 9, →ISSN, page 124

Products are increasingly differentiated by the one-two punch of crowd-sourced review and easy factual comparison.

2012 March 21, Dwight Crow, “'Everything Is Automated': How Web Start-Ups Attack the Offline Economy”, in The Atlantic

“We find that the end-Cretaceous mass extinction was caused by a combination of the volcanism and asteroid impact, delivering a theoretical ‘one-two punch’,” said study co-author Sierra Petersen of the University of Michigan, using boxing terminology.

2016 July 6, Sierra Petersen, quotee, “Dinosaurs killed off by ‘one-two punch’ of climate change and asteroid strike – study”, in The Guardian

(by extension) A rapid sequence or combination of two things that has a quick or powerful effect.


show the flag

en-verb

show the flag (third-person singular simple present shows the flag, present participle showing the flag, simple past showed the flag, past participle shown the flag or (US also) showed the flag)

shows the flag (present singular third-person)
showing the flag (participle present)
showed the flag (past)
shown the flag (participle past)
showed the flag (US also participle past)

→ German: Flagge zeigen (calque)

Henry Kissinger stopped off in Kabul to show the flag for a few hours in 1974.

1980 January 28, “‘Who Lost Afghanistan?’”, in Time

The Bush–Cheney re-election campaign will send a high-profile team of surrogates to both Iowa and New Hampshire in the coming days to train and motivate Republican activists and to "show the flag" in states in which the Democratic presidential race has dominated political debate.

2004 January 19, “Bush operatives moving to primary states”, in CNN, retrieved 2009-01-04

(idiomatic, by extension) To represent one's country or some other group in a manner intended to suggest the authority or importance of that country or group.


graystone

en-noun

graystone (countable and uncountable, plural graystones)

Because graystones were more expensive to build than frame buildings and had a more substantial look and feel, they were the choice of the middle and upper classes.

2017, Terry Moor, Reinventing an Urban Vernacular

(countable, by extension) A building of this kind.


ironman

From iron + man. First applied to Joe McGinnity, a baseball player who pitched 48 complete games in one season and worked in an iron foundry during the offseason.

(by extension) The winner of such a lifesaving event or triathlon.


pandy

From Latin pande (“hold out”), in schoolmaster commands pande manum "hold out [your] hand" or pande palmum "hold out [your] palm".

OK? so I'll slap my pandies and you can all cower down into your anoraks and we'll leave on non-speaking terms!

1998 July 30, Ron O'Brien, “Beta 4.0 v8 soon expires, then what?”, in demon.ip.support.turnpike (Usenet)

Spurs in the navy shirts with yellow shorts (as QPR played in white shorts), many of the players wearing red mittens to keep their pandies warm!

2005 June 29, DannyT, “Daft New Shirts Q”, in alt.sports.spurs (Usenet)

thanx...bit by bit mine knowledge of the universe expands. that sounds like heavy labour...and my pandies will get dirty

2017 August 24, abelard, “anybody can tell me why unturned red soil goes light yellow(sand coloured)?”, in uk.politics.misc (Usenet)


routier

From French routier, from route (“company”); compare English highwayman.

(by extension) Any brigand or armed robber.


shovel-ready

en-adj

shovel-ready (comparative more shovel-ready, superlative most shovel-ready)

more shovel-ready (comparative)
most shovel-ready (superlative)

First used by Barack Obama during an interview with Meet the Press on 6 December 2008.

(by extension) Describing a project which is a candidate for economic stimulus spending, the one having a more immediate impact on the economy as opposed to the project requiring a great deal of time that must elapse for architecture, zoning, legal considerations or other factors before labor can be deployed on it.


twilight zone

Because such a zone (in the literal sense of the term) is twilit; see twilight § Etymology.

As to this right, therefore, the people have expressly created a twilight zone, in which neither nation nor state can act.

They were interesting because they represented a sort of twilight zone separating the "old days" from modern times.

1978, Cornelius Cole Smith, Fort Huachuca: The Story of a Frontier Post

...the classification scheme related to goods which lay in a "twilight zone" between consumer goods and equipment or between inventory and farm products.

1999, Grant Gilmore, Security Interests in Personal Property

But is there not a twilight zone over which both Church and State put forth claims?

2006, Charles C Marshall, The Roman Catholic Church in the Modern State

(by extension) A region or context located in between others and therefore not subject to their norms.


bare one's teeth

en-verb

bare one's teeth (third-person singular simple present bares one's teeth, present participle baring one's teeth, simple past and past participle bared one's teeth)

bares one's teeth (present singular third-person)
baring one's teeth (participle present)
bared one's teeth (participle past)
bared one's teeth (past)

(idiomatic, by extension) To show aggression.


Rube Goldberg machine

en-noun

Rube Goldberg machine (plural Rube Goldberg machines)

Named for Rube Goldberg, an American cartoonist, who drew many such machines.

To be overly cynical myself, that is still the macro view. Littlefinger’s execution and the white walkers passing through the rubble of the Wall are just two observations that this enormous Rube Goldberg machine is running on time.

2017 August 27, Brandon Nowalk, “Game Of Thrones slows down for the longest, and best, episode of the season (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club

(by extension) Anything that is overly complicated.


étape

Borrowed from French étape, from Middle French estappe, from Old French estaple (“warehouse; a place where merchants bring their wares to be sold”), from Middle Dutch stapel (“warehouse; market”), from Old Dutch stapul, from Frankish *stapul. Sense 5 is a semantic loan from Russian эта́п (etáp). More at the doublet staple.

sl

(by extension) The place where troops on the march halt overnight.

(by extension) The distance marched during a day.


scoresheet

Chelsea began the second half in more determined fashion and soon after Malouda directed a weak shot at Hennessey, they wasted a glorious chance to get on the scoresheet.

2011 January 5, Mark Ashenden, “Wolverhampton 1 - 0 Chelsea”, in BBC

(by extension) A list of people who have scored.


hot extraction

(slang, by extension) The process of rescuing a friend or colleague from an awkward situation, such as an unsuccessful date.


halfmonth

(loosely) A fortnight, a period of time equal to two weeks; fourteen days.


street food

en-noun

street food (countable and uncountable, plural street foods)

Bustling with a lively crowd, this restaurant serves finger-licking Korean street food.

2019, DK Eyewitness Top 10 London: 2020 (Travel Guide)

(by extension) Food of this kind served in other contexts such as dine-in restaurants.


mainstage

(by extension) Any prestigious performing space.


lambswool

lambswool (countable and uncountable, plural lambswools)

Coordinate term: sheepswool

(by extension, countable) A textile or garment made of wool from a lamb.


marry in haste, repent at leisure

(by extension) Joining (or merging) two things together too soon will lead to problems.


candleholder

(dated, by extension) One who renders another slight assistance, or humours them.


rootstock

We know more - vastly more - about how we are governed, and that knowledge is the rootstock of consent.

2009 January 30, Simon Jenkins, “For real secrets we already have the one-and-a-half-year memoir rule”, in The Guardian

(figurative, by extension) The necessary basis for something to develop.


vaccinia

vaccinia (countable and uncountable, plural vaccinias)

Since then, a handful of vaccinia cases have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including one, described in the May 4 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, of vulvar infection in an Alaskan woman whose sex partner was a serviceman.

2007 May 18, John Schwartz, “Soldier’s Smallpox Inoculation Sickens Son”, in New York Times

(by extension) The virus which causes this infection.


phonebook

have more chins than a Chinese phonebook

He does this by using the Domain Name System, or DNS, which is the phonebook for the Internet.

2007 July 9, John Markoff, “Fixing Typos by Web Users, Without Raising Hackles”, in New York Times

(by extension, computing) A large lookup table.


unwinking

All your anxious care, all your unwinking vigilance, is necessary to preserve you from your great adversary.

1792, Vicesimus Knox, Sermons, chiefly intended to promote Faith, Hope, and Charity

(by extension) Constantly on one's guard; vigilant.


majat

(South Africa, by extension) Any other product or service that is of inferior quality.


pitched battle

At every post where we changed horses and drivers, we had a pitched battle with the driver for more money than we had been told was the regular rate.

1889, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter 13, in The Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe

(by extension) An intense, rancorous argument or confrontation.


kitemark

(by extension) Any similar certification or, in colloquial terms, as a benchmark intended to indicate safety or good quality.


pareve

/ˈpɑː.ɹə.və/

Borrowed from Yiddish פּאַרעוו, פּאַרעווע (parev, pareve), of uncertain origin. Suggestions include:
* Perhaps from Middle High German bar (“bare, naked”), from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (“bare, naked”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰosós, from *bʰos- (“bare, barefoot”), and thus cognate with English bare.
* Perhaps from a West Slavic source such as Czech párový (“occurring in pairs”), because according to Jewish dietary laws, meat and milk cannot be combined, but as pareve food contains neither, it can be paired with either meat dishes or milk dishes.

bor

פּאַרעוו, פּאַרעווע

Judaism in Cranford [New Jersey] was pareve, neither milk nor meat; it had no edge to it. I didn't see this for my life. I was idealistic. I wanted to deal with issues of faith and morality, and all they were worried about were their High Holiday seats. But then I found out I really liked the contact I had with people's day-to-day problems.

1994, Paul Wilkes, quoting Jay Rosenbaum, And They Shall Be My People: An American Rabbi and His Congregation, New York, N.Y.: Atlantic Monthly Press

Just as kosher is used as slang for "legitimate" or "a-okay", pareve has slang connotations, too. A pareve person is wishy-washy and vague; a pareve deed or decision is "neither fish nor fowl," of no great consequence, middle-of-the-roadish.]

[2001, Leo Rosten, Lawrence Bush, “pareve”, in The New Joys of Yiddish, New York, N.Y.: Three Rivers Press, page 281, footnote

By values we don't mean the personal preferences that made values clarification strategies of the seventies and eighties so pareve; we mean traditional Jewish virtues, middot or ma'alot.

2008, Carol K. Ingall, Jeffrey S. Kress, “Nurturing Jewish Values”, in Roberta Louis Goodman, Paul A. Flexner, Linda Dale Bloomberg, editors, What We Now Know about Jewish Education, Los Angeles, Calif.: Torah Aura Productions, page 291

(figuratively, by extension) Neutral, bland, inoffensive.


dead set

I might not graduate first in my class, but I'll make a dead set at it.

(figuratively, by extension) A determined effort.


trackbed

From track + bed (“place, or flat surface or layer, on which something else rests or is laid”).

compound

Holonym: right of way

The trackbed of the majority of the ten miles from Padstow to Boscarne Junction is still intact and used as a cycle way, although the section where the railway once went through Wadebridge has been lost to development.

2017 March, “What if These Lost Lines Hadn’t Closed at All?”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-05-16

Just before Bloworth Crossing, you'll walk a short distance along the trackbed of the old mineral railway that connected the ironstone mines at Rosedale with the blast furnaces of Middlesbrough.

2019, Alan Staniforth, “Clay Bank to Kildale”, in Cleveland Way (Official National Trail Guide), revised edition, London: Aurum Press, in association with Walk Unlimited, part 2, page 64

Darcy Lever: Bolton Council has rejected a plan to build 112 homes across the trackbed of the former Bury line. It is concerned that it would prevent any future extension of Manchester Metrolink, and chip away at green space land.

2023 July 26, Howard Johnston, “Regional News: North West”, in RAIL, number 988, page 28

(loosely) The land on which a railway (especially one that has been closed or dismantled) was built; the roadbed for a railroad.


lead off

en-verb

lead off (third-person singular simple present leads off, present participle leading off, simple past and past participle led off)

leads off (present singular third-person)
leading off (participle present)
led off (participle past)
led off (past)

(by extension) To be the first of any set, especially the first person in a group to speak; to launch or begin something by speaking.


Bay Street

(Canada, by extension) Financial interests in Canada, especially in Toronto.


movielike

en-adj

movielike (comparative more movielike, superlative most movielike)

more movielike (comparative)
most movielike (superlative)

(figuratively, by extension) Unrealistically romantic, exciting, or scenic.


whipstock

(by extension) The driver of a carriage.


boost

en-verb

boost (third-person singular simple present boosts, present participle boosting, simple past and past participle boosted)

boosts (present singular third-person)
boosting (participle present)
boosted (participle past)
boosted (past)

Unknown. The verb is first recorded 1815; the noun, 1825. Compare Scots boost (“to move; drive off; shoo away”), bost, boast (“to threaten; scold”), Middle English boosten, bosten (“to threaten”).

cog

This campaign will boost your chances of winning the election.

More flak was aimed at the Treasury's apparent lack of marketing skills, when it was argued that its idea of how to sell tickets was along the lines of "you can get two tickets for the price of two", and it lacks the sales and promotional skills of the train operating companies which are needed to boost revenue.

2022 January 12, Tom Allett, “Network News: MPs concerned at Treasury's influence on rail industry”, in RAIL, number 948, page 13

“ A god of blues . Have you got them , Doctor ? " " Boost him sir , boost him . “ ” “ He thinks ! Shall we let him ponder ? ” “ He only calls . What have you , Doctor ? Three ducks , ' tis yours . The Doctor pulls the wad without a ...

1910, The Gopher: Annual Publication of the Student Body of the University of Minnesota, volume 24, University of Minnesota, →OCLC, page 228

(transitive, by extension) To help or encourage (something) to increase or improve; to assist in overcoming obstacles.

anspornen

to help or encourage (something) to increase or improve


teleshopping

téléshopping

shopping from home in response to offers on television advertising or shopping channels

(chiefly UK, India) Shopping from home in response to offers on television advertising or shopping channels.

(by extension, uncommon) Shopping in response to offers either on television or online.


spring cleaning

en-noun

spring cleaning (countable and uncountable, plural spring cleanings)

I spent the whole day in my head / Do a little spring cleanin' / I'm always too busy dreamin'

2020, Mac Miller (lyrics and music), “Good News”, in Circles

(by extension) A systematic cleaning, reorganization, or weeding out of a system


immemorable

en-adj

immemorable (comparative more immemorable, superlative most immemorable)

more immemorable (comparative)
most immemorable (superlative)

From Latin immemorabilis (“not memorable”).

(loosely) Whose origins have been forgotten; immemorial.


munted

munted (comparative more munted, superlative most munted)

more munted (comparative)
most munted (superlative)

Possible etymologies:
* From a Germanic language; compare Danish munter, German munter, Old High German muntar, all meaning "lively" or "merry".
* From Scottish Gaelic mùin (“to urinate, piss”), thus analogous to the sense "pissed".
* Blend of monged + cunted.

der

(Australia, New Zealand, slang, by extension) Disgusting.

[…] "Our main sewer [trunk] is seriously munted ... I believe that is the technical term."

2011, Bob Parker, Mayor of Christchurch, to TVNZ (wryly) following a severe earthquake NZ Herald on line edition, 22-25 February 2011 (see 09:46)

(Australia, New Zealand, slang, by extension) Damaged or unusable.


dragstrip

Point guard Danielle Robinson led Oklahoma with 23 points worth of dragstrip basketball.

2009 April 1, Jeré Longman, “Oklahoma Women’s Success Attracts Fans and Stars”, in New York Times

(figuratively, by extension) Any place for high-speed competitive activity.


filmlike

en-adj

filmlike (comparative more filmlike, superlative most filmlike)

more filmlike (comparative)
most filmlike (superlative)

(figuratively, by extension) Unrealistically romantic, exciting, scenic, etc.


olefine

en-noun

olefine (countable and uncountable, plural olefines)

(chemistry, by extension) any of the series of unsaturated hydrocarbons of which ethylene is a type


cub

From earlier cubbe. Origin unknown. According to Pokorny, from Proto-Germanic *kubb-, from Proto-Indo-European *gup- (“round object, knoll”), from *gew- (“to bend, curve, arch, vault”).
Compare Icelandic and Old Norse kobbi (“seal”), Old Irish cuib (“whelp”). Compare also English cob.

unk

unknown

der

(by extension) The young of certain other animals, including the bear, wolf, lion and tiger.

for terms specific to any particular animal

גּוּר

young of mammals, including domesticated ones


house-trained

But he did have the endearing habit of cleaning up after she cooked, and unlike other men of her acquaintance the dishes were actually clean when she went to get them out of the cupboard again. Johnny was house-trained, too.

1999, Dana Stabenow, Hunter's Moon, page 112

DeSantis picks cultural fights that are sometimes warranted but more often exhausting. Yet each man will seem at least house-trained compared with recent leaders of their party.

2023 August 8, Janan Ganesh, “The oneness of Ron DeSantis and Rishi Sunak”, in Financial Times

(by extension) Exhibiting behavior and habits that are consistent with good housekeeping.


death rattle

(cricket, by extension) The sound of a batsman’s stumps being broken, so called because this leads to the batsman’s dismissal.